Small Business VoIP

Data Robotics Inc. Expands Drobo Partner Advantage Program
Data Robotics, Inc., a provider of automated data storage products and more, reportedly announced the expansion of its Drobo Partner Advantage Program, in order to provide increased revenue opportunities for the company's channel partners.

TMCnet VoIP Week in Review
This week, London-based VoipSwitch, a developer of VoIP platform solutions and a subsidiary of Voiceserve Inc., announced the company received a "2009 Unified Communications Excellence Award" from TMC's Unified Communications magazine.

TMC and EMBRASE Partner to Host 'StartupCamp Telephony' at ITEXPO East 2010 in Miami
Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC®), a leading global media company, today announced a partnership with Embrase Business Consulting to jointly host "StartupCamp Telephony at ITEXPO", a forum where early stage communications companies, investors and on-lookers alike can share information and validate pitches in a live setting.

Canada's Digital Conceptions Selects Transaction Network Services
Digital Conceptions, a Canadian telecommunications service provider, reportedly has selected Transaction Network Services to be its wholesale provider of Calling Name or CNAM database services. The company offers various database and information services such as 911, 411 and CNAM look up to up-start, independent VoIP service providers throughout Canada. The organization also offers business and residential VoIP services under the trade name, AcroVoice.

XO Communications Expands Network across Inland Empire in Southern California
XO Communications has announced the expansion of its nationwide network across the Inland Empire region of Southern California. In addition to this expansion, the company has also opened a new sales office in Ontario with over a dozen new sales staff and support personnel.

IPC Announces Shared IP Access Strategy and Upgrades its Network and Trading Solutions
IPC, a provider of financial trading communications solutions, has announced a new shared IP access strategy and is also upgrading its network and trading solutions.

Nomadesk Fight Against Productivity Loss From H1N1 with Preventative Solutions
In today's environment, it's becoming increasingly relevant for small businesses to be able to operate virtually. Businesses that can operate from virtual offices have been at an advantage when compared to their land based counterparts. This is particularly important when it comes to dealing with productivity loss during pandemics like the H1N1 or any other major disaster.

Sprint Launches Approach to Simplify Mobile Devices Selections for Small Businesses
Sprint has launched a new approach to simplify the selection of mobile devices and plans by small businesses. Sprint offers more value and the best options for small businesses starting a new business, expanding with new employees or upgrading to the latest devices and mobile technology.

Verizon Business to Help AMF Bowling Centers Optimize Customer Experience
Does a bowling alley really care about customer service or do they just build leagues to keep their lanes occupied? Whatever your assumptions of these recreational locations, AMF Bowling Centers Inc. is actually trying to improve the overall experience for customers while also positioning itself for growth by tapping the power of leading-edge information technology.

Voicemail Made Easier with Business VoIP
Today's working world moves faster than ever. And in a face-paced business environment, few people want to deal with the pains and hassles of dialing their voicemail boxes, punching in a pin number, and finally sifting through unimportant messages just to get to that one voicemail from a colleague or client.

911 Enable EGW Completes ShoreTel's Technology Partner Program Certification Testing
An on-site appliance, the 911 Enable EGW is designed to simplify and automate E911 management for enterprises and small to medium businesses. The appliance helps SMBs meet state and local E911 regulations, said company officials.

Insight on India's Telecom Market and Bandwidth Optimization Needs
As India's mobile service providers evolve from 2G to 3G networks, the nation's rapidly-growing telecom market is poised to require a significant increase in core bandwidth in order to handle voice traffic. After exploring the transition from 2G to 3G and the voice bandwidth requirements of each network, this article will present a next-generation bandwidth optimization solution which can help service providers in India and worldwide cost-effectively embrace this inevitable core network evolution.

Samsung to Launch 3G Ubicell Personal CDMA Base Station Next Year
Samsung Telecommunications America has announced that it will launch the Samsung 3G Ubicell Personal CDMA Base Station next year.

EF Johnson Technologies, Inc. Receives $3.3 Million Statewide Hybrid Project for Radio Systems
EF Johnson Technologies has reportedly signed a deal worth $3.3 million to provide its Hybrid IP25 to help first responder two-way radio calls roam between trunked and conventional systems. The communication system is designed to provide roaming type of two way radio communication, connecting trunked and conventional telecom arrangements.

NuMobile, Enhance Network Communication, Inc. Announce 3Com Project with Hawaii Department of Education
NuMobile, Inc., a company focused on delivering security and software solutions for the global mobile computing and smartphone market, and Enhance Network Communication Inc, a company recently acquired by NuMobile, have reportedly signed a project with the Department of Education in Hawaii to install a 3Com VoIP phone system on Maui.

VoIP-PAL.com Expands Product Development Division
VoIP-PAL.com Inc., a broadband VoIP telecom company, announced the expansion of its product development division for the launch of its first reseller program: www.PointsPhone.com.

AT&T Partners with The Regus Group to Offer Infrastructure to Small Businesses
AT&T has announced a partnership with The Regus Group, a leading provider of workplace solutions, to provide AT&T's small business customers with office infrastructure, technology and communications services.

Amazon.com, BT, Chinook & Qwest to Demo Service Mashup Capabilities, Frameworks
BT and Qwest are championing an effort, in which amazon.com is a participant, to create consistent definitions and service catalogs for both traditional telco offerings like voice, video and data connectivity as well as newer Web- and cloud-based services. The catalog aims to provide functional definitions for all services, denoting how to create and define, fulfill and assure them.

2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY TEM Excellence Awards Winners Announced
Technology Marketing Corporation, or "TMC," a global, integrated media company, today announced the winners of the 2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY TEM Excellence Awards. INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine has been an IP Communications authority since 1998.

8x8 Sponsors Industry Expert's Focus on Advantages of VoIP
If you are a business owner – or even the person who makes the IT decisions for a large company – it is likely you have considered VoIP as a potentially viable option for your communications, if you have not already implemented the technology. If this isn't the case, you may want to consider listening to what Steven Strauss has to say.

Gilat Chosen by Asian Government Defense Agency
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., a provider of products and services for satellite-based communications networks, has received a multi-million dollar contract from a government defense agency in Asia, to deliver a turnkey broadband communications solution.

Nicaraguan Carrier Enitel to Deploy Arbinet's Wholesale Carrier Services
New Jersey-based Arbinet, a global voice and IP communications provider, has announced that its new wholesale Carrier Service interface will be leveraged by Nicaraguan PTT, Enitel for termination and origination of international calls.

Panasonic System Networks Company of America Established
Cigars all around: Panasonic System Networks Company of America has been born as an enterprise vendor for small-to-medium-sized businesses' "workplace needs."

Jamcracker Inks Deal with BroadSoft
Jamcracker officials said that powered by the company's Services Delivery Network, the BroadSoft Marketplace brings together third-party applications and services that enrich the communication experiences of business professionals and consumers.

VoIP Service Provider Primer: Compliance with Communications Taxes and Regulatory Fees (Part 2 of 3)
In contrast to the typical supply chain associated with circuit switched telephone services – which involves a facilities-based wholesaler and perhaps one or two resellers prior to the retail consumer - a voice-bearing IP packet can easily pass through a half dozen hands before being routed to its destination. The result is that there are (1) more companies in the VoIP supply chain and (2) more companies using a wider variety of routing technologies.

NET, emFAST Complete Interoperability Testing of 'One Number Fax'
This combination will provide a so-called comprehensive unified messaging solution which includes fax delivery for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 users, company sources said.

Broadview Networks Intros its New Nationwide Platform
Broadview Networks, at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Miami, introduced the company to new potential partners and signed new agency agreements.

iTokk Announces Commercial Release of iTokk Click-to-Call
iTokk Inc., a communications company offering next-generation telephony solutions for consumers and businesses, has announced commercial availability of its Click-to-Call solution following a successful one year beta period.

RCN Provides Wideband Cable Modem Options to SMBs
RCN Corporation, a broadband services provider delivering all-digital and high definition video, high-speed internet, announced that RCN Business Services is expanding its data product suite by introducing wideband cable modem offerings through the rollout of DOCSIS 3.0 technology to the SMB market.

Bandwidth.com Announces the Public Beta of its Phonebooth OnDemand System
Business communications provider, Bandwidth.com, has reportedly unveiled the public beta of its next-generation cloud phone system, Phonebooth OnDemand.

AudioCodes Launches MSBG PLUS Open Platform for UC
AudioCodes, provider of Voice over IP technologies and Voice Network products, has reportedly introduced an open platform for Unified Communications called, "MSBG PLUS," specifically for SMEs.

APconnections Announces Carrier Class 4.0, Latest Up Gradation to NetEqualizer
Lafayette, Colo.-based APconnections, a provider of plug-and-play bandwidth shaping products, announced the availability of its latest NetEqualizer software release, Carrier Class 4.0, which is capable of offering carrier-class network traffic shaping.

SonicWALL Unveils VoIP Firewall, Releases New Version of E-Mail Solution
Patrick Sweeney, vice president of product management, tells TMCnet that the stateful inspection firewalls popular today have no view into payloads, but to look into the payload with existing products would introduce an unacceptable amount of delay. However, the new SonicWALL solution can look into payloads without those delay issues.

New Global Telecom Certifies Cisco Phones for VoIP
NGT and Cisco plan to jointly market the small business VoIP services and equipment to partners and end user businesses.

Esna Technologies Adds Skype VoIP/Video Support to its UC Link Desktop Software
Esna Technologies Inc., or "Esnatech," a provider of communication solutions that offer flexibility to conduct business at any time, from anywhere, have integrated the company's UC Link desktop software with Skype VoIP and Video services so that users can enjoy improved real-time communications.

Colorado City Selects IP5280 as Official Phone Company
IP5280 Communications, specializing in business VoIP and data communications delivered via state-of-the-art unified IP technologies, has been selected as the official phone company of Greenwood Village, Colorado, by the Greenwood Village Chamber of Commerce.

Avaya's Baratz: Real-time Communications Need Control of E-Mail, More Simplicity
Real-time communications are the best way for knowledge workers to get their jobs done, but those communications need to be infused with the controls we see in email today. That was the word from Alan Baratz, senior vice president and president of global communications solutions at Avaya, who gave the opening keynote address this morning at VoiceCon in San Francisco.

GL Communications Unveils Enhanced Version of IPNetSim
GL Communications Inc., a provider of professional telecom engineering and IT consulting services, has reportedly unveiled an enhanced version of IPNetSim - a simple to use tool that is said to simulate an entire IP Network in one box.

Less Is More: Enhancing Your Business with VoIP
Phones are a primary tool for doing business. One of the ways smart companies are reducing operating costs is by switching to VoIP phone systems. Replacing old phone systems with a VoIP system can potentially reduce phone bills from the moment it's implemented. VoIP also eliminates the cost of managing and maintaining in-house equipment.

Adobe Announces Flurry of Enhancements to Connect Pro Web Conferencing Solution
Adobe today is revealing a handful of improvements to its Acrobat Connect Pro Web conferencing solutions. That includes new capabilities in terms of telephony integration, the addition of a large meeting feature set, improvements to secure desktop meetings, a managed service offer, and expansion of the service to mobile devices.

IBM's Morse to Discuss UC at VoiceCon
Enterprise customers, IBM Software Group and many others in the industry are moving beyond a focus on plain vanilla IP telephony and instead looking at VoIP as part of a larger picture, which also includes unified communications and Web 2.0 social networking capabilities, Bruce Morse, vice president of unified communications and collaboration at IBM Software Group and one of this morning's VoiceCon keynote speakers, told TMCnet in an advance interview.

Aastra Announces Clearspan Anywhere with Enhanced FMC Capabilities
Aastra USA, a provider of innovative unified communication solutions for enterprises and small businesses, announced enhanced fixed-mobile convergence features for its Clearspan UC solution.

The Champlain Telephone Company Selects ADTRAN Platform
The Champlain Telephone Company, an independent service provider serving New York, has reportedly selected ADTRAN's flagship product, the Total Access 5000 Multi-Service Access and Aggregation Platform to enhance its residential and commercial service delivery. ADTRAN officials said that the deployment of the Total Access 5000 will help The Champlain Telephone Company expand the range, reach and performance of a variety of next-generation, carrier-class services, while leveraging more cost-effective Ethernet transport options to enhance operational efficiencies.

SureWest, RTC Deploy 180SQUARED's v.Allegro to Support IPTV Service Offerings
U.S. based operators SureWest Communications, an integrated communications provider and Reservation Telephone Cooperative , a local provider of voice, data, and video services, have reportedly deployed 180SQUARED's v.Allegro solutions set to rapidly plan, integrate and launch their Microsoft Mediaroom implementations. 180SQUARED offers an extensible integration framework to maximize the profitability of IPTV services for service providers.

Array Networks Intros Pre-Paid Licenses for Remote Desktop Access
Array Networks, a provider enterprise secure application delivery and universal access solutions for rapidly growing secure sockets layer virtual private network and application acceleration markets, announced the launch of the Array Business Continuity Pre-Paid License.

BroadSoft, IBM Team up to Introduce BroadWorks Connector for Lotus Sametime
BroadSoft announced that it has joined forces with IBM to make it easier to provide real-time communication and collaboration tools in a cost effective and comprehensive way to businesses of all sizes.

Central Desktop and Duct Tape Marketing Offer SaaS to Small Businesses
Central Desktop reportedly will power Duct Tape Marketing's Software-as-a-Service social technology platform for small business owners.

VisionMonitor Intros Real-Time Environmental Performance Solutions
VisionMonitor Software, a provider of environmental risk management solutions, has announced a new suite of real-time environmental performance solutions.

Strategy Analytics Report Vodafone Shifting to Full Communications Provider
Strategy Analytics reported that Vodafone has now graduated from being a pure-play mobile provider to being an all-encompassing converged and unified communications company. This shift is reflected in Vodafone's interest in total communications, according to the Strategy Analytics Wireless Enterprise Strategies report, "Vodafone Targets SMEs With Hosted Converged Services."

DSP Group Powers CAT-iq Certified Products
In an effort to expand the adoption of cordless advanced technology Internet and quality, or "CAT-iq," IP communications technology, DSP Group, Inc. announced that its silicon and HD voice technologies featuring ICs and software have been incorporated into 11 CAT-iq certified products from cordless telephone manufacturers.

VocalTec Selected for Far East Telecom's VoIP Network
Far East Telecom, or "Dalsvyaz," a regional incumbent service provider and part of the SvyazInvest group, has reportedly selected VocalTec as the provider for its core Class-5 and Class-4 VoIP network.

Gladinet Releases Cloud Gateway v1.0 and Cloud Desktop v1.3
Gladinet, a specialist in transforming the Internet into a virtual PC by integrating a wide range of cloud services on a PC desktop, has reportedly launched Gladinet Cloud Gateway v1.0 and Cloud Desktop v1.3, which are designed to meet the cloud computing needs of SMBs.

Touchfon Launches TouchfonLive VoIP Phone Service
Touchfon International, a provider of communication technology solutions for consumers and small business owners, has reportedly introduced TouchfonLive VoIP Phone Service to its comprehensive suite of communication products.

Conexant Intros New Family of SoC Solutions for Embedded Audio and Voice Applications
Conexant Systems, a supplier of semiconductor solutions for imaging, audio, embedded-modem and video applications, has reportedly introduced a new family of audio system-on-chip solutions for embedded audio and voice applications.

Report: Mobile Business Customers in The Asia-Pacific Region To Reach 300 Million By 2014
The latest ABI Research forecasts indicate that the number of mobile business customers in the Asia-Pacific region will grow at a CAGR of 4.2 percent to reach nearly 300 million by 2014.

Small Businesses Adopting Prepaid Wireless
The survey of 10,011 U.S. mobile phone users, business owners and decision-makers covered mobile spending plans for the second half of 2009.

SACEM Selects Verizon Business VoIP Solution
Societe des auteurs, compositeurs et editeurs de musique, or "SACEM," the French private nonprofit collective rights management organization, has selected Verizon Business VoIP system to streamline its voice and data communications.

Future of VoIP Services in China Unknown, Government Ordered Block Still Standing
Jinan Yinquan Technology has announced that VoIP services may be difficult to continue in the People's Republic of China. The country had issued an order in July 2009 to block VoIP services as a result of the political riot on July 5 in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region. The government has not removed the order to resume services till date.

Telanetix Announces New Channel Relationship with Beneplace
Telanetix Inc., a communications solutions provider offering next generation voice services and solutions to the business market, has announced a new channel relationship with Beneplace.

Sigma Systems to Demo Residential and Business VoIP Fulfillment With SIP Device Provisioning
Sigma Systems, a provider of advanced IP service fulfillment solutions, has announced that it will demonstrate its residential and business VoIP service fulfillment solutions and Device Provisioning Manager at BroadSoft Connections 2009: Voice & Vision, October 25-28, at The Phoenician in Scottsdale, Ariz.

SoTel Rips/Replaces Nortel System with Siemens UC Solution
As some observers have been predicting, competitors to Nortel and to the firms that are buying the organs from this dying communications technology giant are now becoming the beneficiaries. Customers who want to avoid the hassle of dealing with product "end of life" issues and uncertainty with the new owners -- whose offerings that they had rejected before -- are going elsewhere.

ProRail Signs Four-Year Services Contract with BT
BT officials said that the agreement covers the design, build and management of a converged fixed-mobile IP-telephony solution, enabling employees to work more flexibly and collaborate better.

Voxitas Announces Availability of TrueClass Managed IP-VPN Services
Voxitas, a provider of national advanced network services and business class voice over Internet protocol, has reportedly announced nationwide availability of its trueClass managed IP-VPN services. With trueClass, virtual private networks via multiprotocol label switching can be created for enterprise inter-site connectivity. Moreover, when used in combination with Voxitas, voice services can reduce the cost of converged network services, said company officials.

Primus, Juniper and NetApp Take Firewall, Rapid Data Recovery to SMBs
Primus Business Services has reportedly partnered with Juniper Networks and NetApp to enhance its array of managed services and also to bring firewall technology and rapid data recovery to small and medium businesses. Primus is a national full service communications provider offering voice, data, hosting, IP connectivity, disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. Juniper deals in high-performance networking. NetApp offers storage and data management solutions.

CradlePoint Technology Announces New Home/Home Office Router
CradlePoint Technology, a provider of 3G and 4G networking solutions, reportedly announced the release of MBR900 Mobile Broadband N Router, a new router for home and home offices. The latest in the series, the MBR900 Mobile Broadband N Router provides Internet access to customers who cannot get digital subscriber line or cable, or who want a backup for their wired Internet service, according to CradlePoint officials.

Sprint Forms Small Business Specialty Team
Sprint has reportedly formed a small business specialty team to sharpen the company's focus on the rapidly growing small business market segment. Company officials said that the formation of the small business team demonstrates the company's intent to capture a leading share of the segment's growth by dedicating resources, customizing products, and developing special offers for small business owners. This team will reside in Sprint's Business Markets Group, formed earlier this year.

Verizon, Samsung to Offer Wholesalers Internet Service-Gateway CPE Bundle
The Internet service-gateway router package is said to be ideal for small- and medium-sized businesses. "The arrangement demonstrates our commitment to the growing small- and medium-sized business sector of the economy," said Amy Stern, director of product management and product development for Verizon Partner Solutions.

Ekofon Selects DIGITALK Multiservice Platform
Ekofon, Mexico's first service provider to offer competitive calling services, has reportedly selected the DIGITALK Multiservice Platform (MSP) to offer enhanced services in the USA and Mexico.

ZyXEL Unveils its VDSL2 Gateway with Embedded 802.11n Wireless Technology
ZyXEL Communications Inc., a provider of secure broadband networking, Internet connectivity and routing products, reportedly announced the introduction of the P870HN, a VDSL2 gateway with embedded 802.11n wireless technology.

Horry Telephone Picks GENBAND G6 Universal Gateway
Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC), a telephone cooperative, has selected the GENBAND G6 Universal Gateway to transition its legacy Class 5 switching to a state-of-the-art Class 5 softswitch infrastructure.

IJJ Corp Subsidiary Signs Agreement with Speakeasy
TelecoTech, a wholly owned subsidiary of IJJ Corp., reportedly has signed a reseller agreement with Speakeasy to purchase high speed Internet lines, such as DSL and T1 lines.

FTS Launches a Prepackaged Billing and Customer Care Appliance
FTS, a global provider of billing, CRM and policy control solutions for communications and content service providers, has launched FTS Express, a scalable and flexible billing and customer care system wrapped in a small appliance.

Cedar Point Announces Next-Generation Platform for Simpler, Cost-Effective PacketCable 2.0 Deployments
Cedar Point Communications, a provider of integrated VoIP switching technologies for service providers, announced the launch of a next-generation solution that will help cable system operators and network service providers to harness the benefits of PacketCable 2.0 and IP Multimedia Subsystem architectures for carrier-class residential and business communications services.

Avnet in Pact with Scale Computing to Bring IBM-based Storage Appliance to Market
Avnet Technology Solutions has reportedly announced a partnership with Scale Computing, a developer and manufacturer of intelligent clustered storage technology, to bring Scale Computing's new IBM-based storage appliance to the market.

VoIP Provider 8x8 Snags U.S. Patent in Internet Telephony
Internet Protocol communications solutions provider 8x8 Inc. announced today that it has received a new United States patent designed to enhance its Internet Telephony solutions. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Patent Number 7,606,221, called "Network Communications Having Endpoint Device with Automatic Connection to IPBX" on Oct. 20. The newly issued patent supports a telephony communications approach that implements an auto-discovery feature that helps an endpoint device automatically locate and establish communication with a specific server among other interconnected servers.

Pixily's Document Management Service Now Part of Intuit App Center
Pixily, an online document management service for small businesses, has reportedly announced that its document management service can now be accessed through the Intuit App Center in QuickBooks 2010.

TANDBERG's System Helps Amey Cut Down on Carbon Emissions
TANDBERG, a provider of telepresence, high-definition video conferencing and mobile video products and services, has reportedly announced that its systems have enabled Amey, a public services company from the United Kingdom in cutting down 40,000 kilos of carbon emissions and saving 180,000 GBP in the first year of the use itself.

D-Link xStack Switch Honored as the Best Channel Product
D-Link, an end-to-end computer networking systems provider for consumers and business, recently announced that its managed 24-port wireless switch – the xStack DWS – 3227 has been voted as the "Best Channel Product" by the latest industry survey conducted among value-added resellers, or "VAR."

NEC's Network Operations Center Receives TM Forum Business Award
Texas-based NEC Corporation of America, Inc., or "NEC," has announced that its Network Operations Center, or "NOC," has been awarded the first place by the TM Forum Business Benchmarking Program in an NOC optimization study.

Cripps Harries Upgrades Network with Summit Fixed Family of Ethernet Switches
Extreme Networks has announced that law firm Cripps Harries Hall has upgraded its network with the Summit fixed family of Ethernet switches to support its fully converged voice and data infrastructure in addition to iSCSI disk services.

Major Broadband Wireless Service Provider Picks EXFO for VoIP Service Assurance
A un-named major wireless broadband provider has reportedly picked EXFO as its preferred vendor for VoIP service assurance systems. These include a comprehensive set of solutions which have been devised to effectively track, diagnose and resolve any service issues for triple play providers.

Aperio CI's Pricing Genie and Visual Bill Manager Ported On Teradata's DW Platform
The first in a suite of solutions from Aperio CI is Pricing Genie; a "powerful" visual tool for modeling, testing and launching new plans and managing them in one central location.

iYogi Launches Free Microsoft Windows 7 Migration Assistance Programs
A provider of on-demand tech services and a Microsoft Certified company, iYogi has reportedly launched a comprehensive suite of tools and services for users to upgrade or migrate to Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system. According to the company, iYogi's new free offerings include the Windows 7 Online Readiness Test; the Windows 7 Basic Migration tool; Windows 7 Premium Migration service; and Windows 7 Professional Migration service.

Good News, Bad News for Mobile Broadband
Researchers predict that more than one billion people around the world will be using mobile broadband by 2012. For a global business now in the process of replacing voice revenue with broadband and other sources, that is good news. Parks Associates, for example, suggests that U.S. mobile broadband subscribers will more than triple by 2013; growth from 46 million in 2008 to more than 140 million subscribers in 2013.

Ziggo Selects Nokia Siemens Networks to Expand its VoIP Network
Netherlands-based TV and Internet service provider Ziggo said that it has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to expand and upgrade its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network.

NetIQ Picks Gen-i as its Official Managed Service Provider for Unified Communications
NetIQ, an Attachmate Company, has reportedly inked a partnership agreement with trans-Tasman ICT provider Gen-i as the official managed service provider for NetIQ products enabling unified communications.

Manasian Develops New Customer Acquisition Program for Whaleback Systems
Manasian has introduced an aggressive new customer acquisition program for Whaleback Systems targeted at small to mid-sized businesses (SMB).

Viper Networks Launches Operations in Singapore
Viper Networks, Inc. has announced that the company's operations in Singapore have been launched through Globalcom Information Services Pte. Ltd. (GIS).

ATC Signs Sales Agency Agreement with Cincinnati Bell Telephone
Advanced Technology Consulting, Inc.(ATC) reportedly has signed a sales agency agreement with Cincinnati Bell Telephone (CBT) to enter its business partner program.

Black Box Wins $37.7 Million Contract with Miami International Airport
Black Box Network Services, a provider of voice communications, data infrastructure, and product solutions, has reportedly won a contract to perform telecommunications and network management services at Miami International Airport and Dade County's general aviation airports. The contract is reportedly worth $37.7 million.

Telework Recommended for Vancouver during 2010 Olympics
Telework is being promoted as an option, along with increased mass transit use, and carpooling, cycling and walking, to help Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada area residents to get around, and employers to obtain access to employees during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) is hoping that the changes will prove permanent as a green Olympics legacy.

InterCall Expands Managed Services Portfolio
InterCall, an Illinois-based conferencing and collaboration services provider, has reportedly added a new application enhancement to their robust video customer relationship management, or "CRM," tool, InterCall Video Online. The enhancement called VideoSentry expands the company's video managed services portfolio and allows InterCall video customers to remotely manage their video infrastructure in conjunction with their software-as-a-service based video reservation system.

Brocade, Motorola Announce Strategic Relationship
Brocade, a provider of data center networking solutions, has reportedly announced a strategic agreement with the Enterprise Mobility Solutions business unit of Motorola Inc. to collaborate on wireless LAN, voice-over-WLAN, mobile unified communications, or "UC," fixed mobile convergence, or "FMC," cloud computing and wireless broadband technologies.

TELUS Deploys Fujitsu FLASHWAVE Optical Networking Platforms
Canadian telecommunications corporation TELUS has selected Fujitsu FLASHWAVE Packet Optical Networking Platforms, or "Packet ONPs," for its next generation converged Packet/TDM optical network.

StarView to Upgrade to Ethernet over Copper from XO Communications
Tier 1 Internet provider XO Communications has announced that StarView, an IP communications systems provider, will utilize Dedicated Internet Access and Ethernet over Copper transport services from XO to offer its customers high-speed, high-capacity VoIP services at a competitive price.

Intwine Connect, ZeroG Wireless Unveil Wi-Fi U-SAP Module
Intwine Connect, a provider of end-to-end Internet connectivity solutions, announced the availability of its Wi-Fi U-SAP module that was developed in partnership with ZeroG Wireless which specializes in low-power embedded Wi-Fi design.

XO Helps StarView Provide VoIP Services to its Customers
XO Communications will provide dedicated Internet access and Ethernet over copper transport services to StarView, a supplier of business-ready IP communications systems.

Skype Trying to Buy Gizmo5?
The price tag is said to be in the $50-million range, and the deal is not certain, as other buyers may be in the hunt, sources said.

Vendor Loyalty Programs Drive Higher Levels of SMB Spending
Although customer retention is a business dynamic that crosses all vertical industries, our recent surveys with research partner IntelliCom Analytics have been examining vendor loyalty programs in the technology space – specifically, their role in business purchase decisions for communication platforms and applications.

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Selects Aruba Networks
U.K.-based Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has selected Aruba Networks to support the use of mobile applications at the Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General Hospitals.

United World Telecom Selects Ecessa's PowerLink WAN Link Controller
United World Telecom, a switch-based telecommunications service provider, announced it has selected Ecessa's PowerLink WAN link controller.

Cignus Ventures Acquires Smartlinx VoIP Networks
Cignus Ventures Inc., a company founded in 2005 and based in Bellingham, Washington, has reportedly completed its acquisition of Smartlinx VoIP Networks Private Limited, a provider of VoIP services and Live Tutor services in India.

Wavelink Terminal Emulation 7.2 Software Enhances Mobile Worker Productivity
Wavelink Corporation has announced the availability of Wavelink Terminal Emulation 7.2 software for extending mission-critical applications to mobile workers.

Narus Enhances its Traffic Intelligence System with Powerful Analytics and Performance Features
Narus, a provider of real-time traffic intelligence for the protection and management of large IP networks, announced the new release of its flagship real-time traffic intelligence system NarusInsight.

CPM Telecom Inks Deal with RingPlus
RingPlus, a telephone community specializing in ring back tone replacement technology, has reportedly signed an agreement with CPM Telecom, an application service provider for operators, to provide "Ring Back Tone Advertisement Platform" solutions in the United States.

Slow European Mobile VoIP Uptake, Fitch Ratings Predicted
Mobile VoIP in the European telecoms industry is unlikely to achieve mass market take up for some time, analysts at Fitch Ratings now predict, even though selective usage of mobile VoIP could start to impact operators' revenue from higher tariff services like international calls and voice roaming. Given the current pricing of mobile data packages, Fitch estimates the cost per minute of a mobile VoIP call using a 3G network is around 10 to 20 times cheaper than the cost of a normal mobile phone call.

ALCON DTS, Samsung BCS Provide Telephony Solutions to Texas SMBs
ALCON DTS has reportedly joined the Samsung BCS dealer network. Samsung Business Communication Systems is the distribution arm for the company's line of business communications solutions. As a dealer partner, the company will offer the Central Texas area SMBs flexible business telephony solutions that offer enterprise-level functionality at an affordable price.

Office Depot Chooses Convertec as the Winner of its 'Survival of the Smartest' Contest
Convertec Corporation has reportedly won Office Depot's "Survival of The Smartest" small business bailout contest. With the achievement, the company will receive $2,000. Office Depot developed the contest as part of its Adopt a Small Business Bailout Campaign. In this contest, participants had to create an original two-minute video describing what they are doing to survive in our current economic times. They also had to describe how innovative solutions offered the company attracted new clients.

Covad Communications Deploys TransNexus NexOSS/OSPrey Routing Solution
TransNexus, a provider of VoIP routing solutions, announced that Covad Communications, a national provider of voice and data communications, has deployed TransNexus' NexOSS/OSPrey solution to increase the quality and efficiency of its network.

Black Box Network Services Resell CoreDial's Hosted VoIP Solutions
Black Box Network Services reportedly will resell CoreDial's hosted VoIP solutions to enterprise customers. CoreDial is a provider of hosted PBX and VoIP software and services for interconnects, service providers and businesses throughout the United States

Tigerpaw Teams Up with Cabinet NG
Cabinet NG, a company that sells document management and workflow software, has reportedly announced a partnership with Tigerpaw Software, a developer of IT business management software, to provide small and midsized companies with a way to manage business processes. Implementing Tigerpaw's CRM+ software and CNG's Shared Access Filing Environment offers a filing approach that provides "a comprehensive paperless office that scales with business growth," according to company officials.

Telework on the Rise: Study
Nearly two in five employed U.S. online adults work from home at least one day a month, according to new research in the "The Telework and the Technologies Enabling Work Outside Corporate Walls" from the Consumer Electronics Association. This reporter's a perfect one-for-one on that score. The same study also found that "most teleworkers plan to spend at least $925 over the next year on technology products to help them work from home."

India SMBs Set to Spend $48.8 Million on Unified Communications in 2009: Report
A recent study by Access Markets International Partners, Inc. has reportedly revealed that small and medium businesses - companies with up to 99 employees - in the Indian subcontinent are set to spend $48.8 million on unified communication in 2009. The study also found out that medium businesses - companies with 100 to 999 employees will account for more than 40 percent of the country's total SMB expenditure, while small businesses will increase their adoption of basic UC solutions.

AltiGen Goes to the IP/UC Max with New MAX Communications Server 6.5
VoIP phone systems are no longer the alternative technology, used in specialized applications such as branch offices and IT help desks. It is instead becoming the office-wide and enterprise communications of choice, replacing TDM-based PBXs. Just ask accounting firm Gifford & Cox, which has offices across Western Nebraska.

Seven Scale Launches Cloudvox Phone API Platform
Seven Scale has announced the launch of Cloudvox, a new service that lets Web developers control telephone calls from a software application, bringing "unprecedented phone call flexibility to entrepreneurs and technologists."

Jamii Telecommunication Picks Veraz Networks' ControlSwitch Platform
Jamii Telecommunication Ltd., or "JTL," a provider of communication solutions in Kenya and East Africa, has selected Veraz Network's ControlSwitch platform to enable optimized routing and improved network management without having to rely on other providers in Africa.

NextiraOne Implements VoIP and UC for Education System
NextiraOne along with the IT-Directorate of the regional government of Lower Austria has implemented an upgrade of the voice communications for the State Administration. Completed within a timescale of 16 months, employees at 212 sites have been upgraded to VoIP and unified communications, or "UC," system.

Cypress to Provide Riser Management Services to California Center
Cypress Communications, a provider of enterprise-class hosted unified communications, has reportedly been selected as the exclusive provider of riser management services for One World Trade Center in Long Beach, California.

Comcast Buys Mid-Market CLEC
According to Cable Digital News, Comcast Corp. is buying Cimco Communications, a Chicago market competitive local exchange carrier with about 2300 business customers.

Gogrok Technology Unveils Online Collaboration Platform That Helps Users Connect More Easily
Gogrok Technology has announced a new service for online communication to easily connect people who are far apart -- within seconds.

VTech Unveils Cordless Phone System that Integrates Cellular and Landline Worlds
Cordless phone manufacturer VTech Communications announced the availability of DS6321-3, reportedly the first cordless phone system capable of downloading cellular phonebook directory entries using Bluetooth technology.

Unitech Wireless Selects Nokia's High Speed Data Services
Nokia Siemens Networks, a packet core supplier with over 255 GPRS references worldwide, has announced that Unitech Wireless has chosen it as its exclusive pan-India supplier to roll out and manage its GPRS core network under a three year contract. The subscribers of Unitech Wireless will now be able to experience the superior quality voice and high speed mobile data services powered by the Nokia Siemens Networks.

snom Joins Jazinga for SMB VoIP Collaboration
VoIP phone manufacturer snom Technology AG announced Tuesday it has teamed up with Jazinga Inc., maker of an Asterisk-based blended IP PBX and router for small businesses.

Vonage Announces First Calling Application for Mobile Phones
Vonage Mobile is a free downloadable application that provides low-cost international calling facility while roaming on Wi-Fi or cellular networks.

Deutsche Telekom Selects SAS as International Marketing Standard
Deutsche Telekom AG has selected SAS software as its international standard for managing marketing campaigns in its T-Home and T-Mobile subsidiaries. SAS won the contract in a competitive bid.

Vidyo Debuts Affordable HD Video Conferencing System for SMBs
Vidyo, a provider of personal telepresence systems, has released its new VidyoOne 'Telework' HD video conferencing system, which promises to enable small and medium businesses (SMBs) to affordably and easily communicate in HD quality.

Telesphere Deploys Combined LogiSense and BillSoft Technology
LogiSense Corp. has announced that its technology integration with BillSoft's EZTax product has been selected and deployed by Telesphere Networks, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based provider of hosted voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) Services.

Cisco Buys Tandberg
Cisco Systems is buying Tandberg, solidifying its position in the high-end videoconferencing solutions market.

Toshiba and Xchange Certify Interoperability of MetroFlexIP's SIP Trunking Systems
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division and Xchange Telecom announced the certification of interoperability of MetroFlexIP SIP Trunking from Xchange Telecom with Toshiba's family of Strata CIX IP business communication systems.

Specialized Program From Broadview Networks Enable Vaspian Customers To Migrate To OfficeSuite Service
Network-based business communications provider Broadview Networks has launched a specialized program to help Vaspian customers migrate to its hosted IP phone service, OfficeSuite or to a premises-based solution.

Tata Communications Launches an Enhanced Voice Peering Solution
Such benefits include a reduction in overhead costs related with termination and settlement, improved voice quality through the avoidance of unnecessary transcoding and be enabling innovative new business models to deliver a competitive edge.

Tata Communications Launches Internet Clean Pipe for SME Segment
This solution is the first of its kind to be offered by an Internet service provider (ISP) in India. Customer demand from the onset has been very encouraging and sales for the solution are anticipated to ramp up very quickly.

Cypress Communications Receives 2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award from TMCnet
Cypress Communications has announced that Technology Marketing Corporation, or "TMCnet," has selected its hosted unified communications solution, C4 IP, to receive the 2009 INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award presented by INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine.

TamoSoft Releases CommView for WiFi 6.2
TamoSoft has announced the availability of the next version of its 802.11 a/b/g/n wireless network analyzer for Windows XP/Vista/7 -- CommView for WiFi 6.2.

New Jersey Hospital Selects Optimum Lightpath for Enhanced Patient Services
Optimum Lightpath, a division of Cablevision Systems Corporation, reportedly has been selected as the telecommunications provider by the Holy Name Hospital from New Jersey. The hospital hopes to deploy Optimum's solutions for enhancing patient and hospital efficiencies and cutting down the costs significantly.

APconnections Offers RADIUS Authentication through NetEqualizer
RADIUS allows a company to maintain user profiles in a central database that can be shared by remote servers. This provides better security and enables a company to track usage for billing and for keeping network statistics.

Children's Hospital Selects Ecessa's PowerLink to Manage Multiple IT Demands
With the PowerLink devices, the research staff is able to use the Internet reliably for daily productivity without any Internet downtime, company officials said.

When Has Deregulation Gone Too Far?
Japan's telecom market was deregulated during the 1990s, as were many major telecom markets, in an attempt to spur innovation and competition. But Japanese regulators seem to be signaling that in at least one sense, things have gone too far.

Junction Networks Announces Expansion of its OnSIP Hosted PBX Service
Junction Networks, a provider of business-class VoIP and hosted VoIP services to small and medium-sized enterprises, announced that it is expanding the range of its OnSIP hosted PBX service beyond voice, adding unified communications features including instant messaging, presence, and phone status.

Free Webinar: the How-to on Switching From Legacy Connection to MPLS
With the ever evolving telecommunications industry, companies frequently switch, change and upgrade their services as a way to stay on top of, and produce better applications for, the industry's demands.

Media Phones to Generate $5 Billion by 2014: Report
The latest study from analyst firm ABI Research says the media phones will generate market revenue of about $5 billion by 2014.

How Will Mobile VoIP Impact Incumbents Between Now and 2013?
Mobile service providers will earn between $10.6 billion and $21 billion in voice-over-IP revenues in 2013, analysts at In-Stat forecast. Over-the-top providers will earn about $10.6 billion in 2013.

Instra Corporation Releases Solution Based on ENUM Technology
Melbourne, Australia-based Instra Corporation has reportedly launched a convergence solution PhNUM, powered by the ENUM technology. Instra said it is the first company in the world to offer a practical application for ENUN technology.

Primus Telecommunications Inks New Contract with Rogers Wireless
Primus Telecommunications Canada reportedly signed a new contract with Rogers Wireless, a provider of wireless voice and data communications services across Canada. This latest partnership with Rogers Wireless is expected to "significantly" enhance Primus Telecommunications' wireless products offering to the customers by early spring 2010.

Pangea Communications Forms Technology Partnership with FaxBack
Pangea Communications and FaxBack have reportedly announced a technology partnership, which calls on integrating FaxBack voice over Internet protocol fax solutions with Pangea's flagship fax solution, Concert.

Arizona State University Expands Relationship with Qwest Communications
Arizona State University (ASU) reportedly has expanded its relationship with Qwest Communications with a five-year, $54 million communications agreement, that will save the university $1.48 million a year. As part of the new contract, Qwest will manage all of ASU's voice, data and wireless services to provide students, faculty and staff easy and efficient Internet access, voice communications and computing capabilities across the university's four campuses.

Primus Telecommunications Seeks to Expand Network of Reselling Partners
Primus Telecommunications Group is reportedly expanding its network of agents who sell its leading voice and data products and services to customers under the Primus brand. Officials said that Primus, in connection with this effort, is introducing a new suite of services to be sold exclusively through the company's channel partners.

Global IP Telecommunications Releases Ninja Pro with Microsoft Outlook Integration
Global IP Telecommunications, which manufactures Voice over Internet Protocol software telephones, reportedly announced the latest release of its Ninja VoIP telephone line – the Ninja Pro (CTI).

ASC Announces New Quality Monitoring and VoIP Recording Solutions
ASC , a global provider of innovative solutions to record, analyze and evaluate communications, has reportedly announced two new solutions - quality monitoring solution, INSPIRATIONpro 9.0, and VoIP recording solution, EVOip 9.0. INSPIRATIONpro 9.0 includes many features such as speech analytics, an eLearning module and increased data security. ASC's new EVOip 9.0 offers strong security features, integrates with additional IP phone systems, and provides post-compression of recorded calls and screen activities.

ECP Commits $25 Million to East African Telecommunications Company
Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), an international private equity firm focused on investing across the African continent, has reportedly committed $25 million to Wananchi Group Holdings, an East African media and telecommunications company specializing in pay television and high-speed Internet services in Kenya and Tanzania.

Telefonica O2 Czech Republic Selects Critical Path Phone Back-Up System
Critical Path, Inc., a provider of messaging software and services, has announced that Telefonica O2 Czech Republic has launched its "Phone Back-Up" system to protect the contact and calendar data for its O2 Zaloha subscribers.

Vodafone Hungary Picks WeDo Technologies' Revenue Assurance Tool
Vodafone Hungary has reportedly selected WeDo Technologies' revenue assurance tool to automate and manage end-to-end service usage assurance processes across the whole business.

netTALK Launches New Customer-Focused Interactive Web site
The company netTALK, Inc., has launched its new customer-focused, interactive Web site www.netTALK.com.

Skype for SIP Adds Cisco Unified Communications Series 500 to Interoperable List
Communications software company Skype is expanding the number of SIP-based IP-PBX solutions to its interoperability list with the addition of the Cisco Unified Communications 500 Series for Small Business.

Survey Reveals Consumer Interest in Mobile VoIP Service
The survey polled 2,255 adults in the U.K. and was commissioned by Kineto Wireless, Inc., the supplier of solutions that enable delivery of mobile services over broadband.

Verizon Teams Up With Office Depot for Small Business Discount Program
It's no secret that the economic recession has played a role in all businesses revenues, special promotes and cutbacks.

Avaya Bolsters SME Communications/Customer Service with IP Office Release 5
Small and medium-sized enterprises have long sought tools to help them provide greater operational flexibility, such as efficiently supporting home and mobile workers, become more competitive with high quality customer retaining/attracting service, and stay in business during outages. Avaya IP Office Release 5, the latest version of Avaya's proven and popular IP Office software promises to do just that. The new solution is aimed at improving SME scalability, resiliency, and productivity.

Did a Canadian Government Change of Heart Kill Siemens' Bid for Nortel?
Citing informed sources, The Globe and Mail reported Friday that a year-long drive by the Siemens company, a partnership with the Gores Group, to create a Canadian-based $5-billion-a-year equipment maker from the remnants of Nortel failed because of a federal government about-face on the deal. This is despite the full backing of the Province of Ontario, where Nortel is headquartered, according to numerous sources in the finance and telecom sectors.

Critical Links Declare $3.8 Million in Funding
Critical Links, a provider of information and communications technology infrastructure solutions, has reportedly secured a new round of funding of $3.8 million to further expand its offering of ICT solutions for small and medium businesses and schools.

Elanti Introduces Real-Time Intelligent Routing System
Elanti Systems has announced the launch of a new centralized control software solution for dynamic network-resource management.

Cisco VoIP Solution from Unified360 Deployed at Vaquero Club
Unified360, a unified communications solutions provider, has announced the deployment of a Cisco Voice over IP solution for the Vaquero Club, a private country club, which provides its members with state-of-the-art facilities and services.

NEC Announces New Enhancements to UNIVERGE SV8100
NEC Unified Solutions, a provider of advanced communications solutions, reportedly has added new mobility and unified communications productivity features to its UNIVERGE SV8100 communications server, thereby helping its customers to do more with their communications investment.

Bresnan Communications Picks ARRIS DOCSIS 3.0 C4 CMTS Platform
Bresnan Communications, a provider of high-speed Internet, digital cable services and digital phone services, has reportedly selected ARRIS's DOCSIS 3.0 C4 CMTS platform to deploy high-speed data, hosted VoIP and commercial services in four of its Northwestern U.S. markets: Kalispell and Helena, Mont., and Gillette and Casper, Wyo.

Nortel Layoffs, Possible Election Loom From Avaya Acquisition
Up to 400 Nortel employees in the enterprise division's Toronto, Ottawa, and Belleville, Ontario may be laid off resulting from the sale of that unit to Avaya, reports the Canadian Press.

Website Helps New Homeowners Set-up Services, For Free
Moving to a new residence can be a stressful and time-consuming process. Setting up basic services such as telephone, satellite TV, cable, electricity, water, gas, home security, internet, and newspaper can be confusing and frustrating.

Mobile Network Operator in Latin America Selects RADCOM's Omni-Q Monitor
One of Latin America's major mobile network operators has reportedly selected RADCOM's Omni-Q to monitor its 3G multimedia data services and UMTS radio access network.

Bresnan Communications Selects ARRIS Platform
Bresnan Communications has selected the ARRIS DOCSIS 3.0 C4 CMTS platform to deploy high speed data, hosted VoIP and commercial services in four of its Northwestern U.S. markets -- Kalispell and Helena, Mon., and Gillette and Casper, Wyo.

Nortel Sell-Offs Closer to Accomplishment
The enterprise unit sale, whose outcome was announced Monday, still has to be finalized by the Canadian government but it appears that may be a formality. Canadian law requires that any sale of a Canadian firm or division to a foreign firm whose book value is $312 million or more, and/or which has national security impacts must be reviewed.

DTCC Picks IBM to Manage Telecom Spend
Important offerings in IBM's service include consulting, assessments, historical audits and mobile savings analysis. The services are delivered through a Web-based portal for end-user mobile services and device ordering based on a company's mobile policy and selected vendors and devices.

World's First LTE Call on Commercial Software
The data call was conducted in Nokia Siemens' R&D Center in Ulm, Germany, using the company's Flexi Multiradio Base Station, which has been shipped to over 80 operators around the world.

Vodafone Mulling Sale of Verizon Wireless Stake?
Vodafone investors have been unhappy that the investment is not throwing off dividend income. An annual dividend payment, required by the original agreement made in 2000 when the joint venture was formed, expired in 2006.

JDRF Selects Verizon Business SMB Solutions
The Verizon Business communications and collaboration platform will now help the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International, or "JDRF," to improve the coordination within its extensive network of employees, volunteers, advocates and corporate partners.

New Age Law Office With MyFax Suits For Ullucci Law Associates
Ullucci Law Associates have become the latest subscriber to the MyFax Internet Fax office, thereby creating a modern law office operable in a completely virtualized environment.

Maximizer Announces 'Broader International Mobile Footprint'
Customer Relationship Management, or "CRM," vendor Maximizer Software has announced what company officials are calling "a broader international mobile footprint for Maximizer Mobile CRM" via three new channel partners: Kilobytes Data Solutions, The Weston Group and Nubison.

ATLDC Announces Cost Effective Co-location Plan to Help Small Businesses in Tough Economic Times
ATLDC/Tulix Systems, Inc. has announced a cost-effective co-location plan to help small businesses in tough economic times.

U.K. Legal Firm Picks Swyx for UC
SwyxWare's unified communication solution employs a new software IP technology from Digital Exchange which brings voice into an online IT environment – helping to enhance customer satisfaction and resulting in substantial annual cost savings.

Frontier Launches Managed PBX Telephony Solution for SMBs
According to Melinda White, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Marketing and New Business Operations, Frontier Managed PBX offers an end-to-end fully managed telephony solution that includes Internet access, hardware, installation, integration, maintenance and training.

Voxbone's iNum Numbers Get HD Voice
Voxbone has added support for HD to its international, geographically independent number service iNum, which now has a uniform identifier that enables HD calling. As long as both endpoints are HD-enabled, calls to these numbers will have superior sound quality.

Wavion Adds Enhanced VoIP Support to its Wi-Fi Base Stations
Wavion, serving the metro and rural Wi-Fi market with a new category of Wi-Fi base station, has released a new software version with enhanced support for Voice-over-IP (VoIP) applications for residential and business connectivity.

Fumata Bianca: Avaya Finally Named Nortel Enterprise Auction Winner
The fumata nera day had become a fumata nera weekend. But, the white smoke finally came in today (Monday), with Avaya being declared the winner of the Nortel Enterprise auction.

AT&T Makes Tech Support 360 Service Available to Midsize Businesses
U.S telecom giant AT&T has reportedly announced the availability of AT&T Tech Support 360 Desktop Helpdesk Minutes for midsize businesses with an average of 15 to 50 employees. In addition to offering remote online computer support, the service offers installation assistance and PC performance tune-up around the clock through any high speed Internet connection.

LeasePlan Taps Verizon Business to Consolidate its Global Communications Services
LeasePlan, a provider of fleet and vehicle management solutions, reportedly selected Verizon Business' comprehensive global network solutions to provide all of the company's global communications services, which link 6,200 employees across 30 countries. This consolidation process will help LeasePlan, which manages a fleet of more than 1.4 million vehicles and is expanding globally, to drive growth while saving costs, officials said.

MegaPath to Host Webinar on Switching From Legacy Connection to MPLS
MegaPath, managed IP communications services provider, will be presenting a free webinar entitled, "MPLS with Voice + Security – Planning for the Future and Taking Your Network to the Next Generation of Cloud-based Communications," on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 2:00 p.m.

Nortel to Present Free Webinar on Improving Communications
On Thursday, Sept. 24 at 11:00 a.m., Nortel is hosting a free webinar titled, "Communications Enablement: Integrating Real Time Communications into Your Business," which will feature discussions on how to enable your business to offer hard ROI returns.

Thomson Launches New Cirpack 3G Video Calls Gateway
As the demand for multimedia services rises, companies are discovering new business opportunities in this sector. Thomson, a provider of services to content creators, has reportedly introduced the new Cirpack 3G Video Calls Gateway, which helps operators to set up multimedia services. These services include calls, video blogging and even live television access, claims the company.

European Mobile Industry 'Uncertain,' Frost & Sullivan Reports
The European mobile industry is still in a state of "uncertainty," according to industry research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Skype for iPhone, iPod Touch Now in Canada
Now there's another way to make your iPhone absolutely, completely, totally indispensable: Skype has announced its Skype for iPhone and iPod Touch on the App Store in Canada.

Verizon, Politics, Cloud Pending Nortel Enterprise Auction
The Ottawa Citizen reported Sept.10 that Verizon Communications plans to object on U.S. national security grounds to the potential sale of the Nortel Networks Enterprise division.

Are Small Businesses now Ready for UC and Cloud-based Communications? Frost & Sullivan Explores Market Opportunities
In July 2009, IBM made an interesting announcement about entering the Small and Medium Business (SMB) space with a Unified Communications (UC) 'out-of-the-box' solution. At the same time, its main rival Microsoft seems to be making a move in the opposite direction. Although it is not official yet, the US software giant now appears to be betting on Office Communications Server (OCS) with an effort to tailor it to different segments and their respective needs, instead of continuing support and development of the released in early 2007 Response Point that was specifically targeted at SMBs.

LogMeIn Keeps Small Business Remote Workers Connected
With Central, small businesses keep their mobile and remote workers connected and productive. The solution also provides IT support to even the most difficult to reach devices, without requiring significant upfront or ongoing investments.

Columbus Independent School District Deploys Cymphonix Network Composer
The Columbus Independent School District (ISD) has reportedly experienced an increased usage of Web-enabled smart phones by its students and faculty. Looking to facilitate better usage of this technology and at the same time, wanting to keep a track of the bandwidth usage, ISD has opted for the Cymphonix Network Composer. In addition to gaining visibility, and managing bandwidth in its campuses, ISD can also filter Web content across its network with this solution.

Storage Capacity Increased in Verizon Online Backup and Sharing Service
Consumers and small businesses who want to store and share huge volumes of digital assets can now benefit more from their Verizon Online Backup & Sharing, or so-called VOBS service plans. Verizon reportedly announced that the storage capacity for subscriptions is increased significantly without increase in the service's monthly rates.

Gizmo5 Taps Dash Carrier Services as Exclusive E911 Provider
Gizmo5, a standards-based consumer calling service announced it selected Dash Carrier Services, a provider of wholesale carrier voice solutions, as its exclusive E911 provider at Technology Marketing Corporation's ITEXPO West 2009 tradeshow, which concludes today. Under the partnership, Gizmo5 can offer users a residential service plan using DASH's E911 emergency service solutions program for $5.95 a month, Gizmo5 officials said. The move will add more than 5 million end-users to Dash's dialer footprint.

Cisco to Work with Vsys to Develop Platform for Unified Communications
Companies can use this model to avoid upfront investments, deploy solutions developed by highly trained experts and avoid the costs and challenges associated with operating the systems and solutions.

Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Signs LOI with Dragon Fu Investment
Qiao Xing Universal Telephone, Inc.(XING) has signed a letter of intent (LOI) to sell its subsidiary, Qiao Xing Communication Holdings Limited, to Dragon Fu Investment Limited (DFIL).

8x8 Introduces IP Business Phones at OfficeMax Stores
Internet Protocol communications solutions provider 8x8, Inc., broke news today at Technology Marketing Corporation's ITEXPO West 2009 that OfficeMax is selling the 8x8/Aastra co-branded 6755i IP business phone featuring the 8x8 Virtual Office suite of business phone services in 400 retail locations in the U.S. Officials from 8x8 will discuss its latest venture in booth # 401 at ITEXPO, which is currently underway at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The conference and tradeshow, which is expected to draw some 7,000 attendees, runs through today.

D-Link Canada Unveils a Revamped Website
With more and more users going online to get the information they need, companies are realizing the importance of a robust online presence. D-Link Canada, an end-to-end computer networking solutions provider for consumers and business, has acted on this requirement and has launched a next-generation website to cater to the changing customer needs.

VoIP Market Grows, Speakeasy Adds Three More Customers
VoIP is gradually replacing traditional phone services in business arena. Small businesses find VoIP as the most cost-effective way to communicate with their customers and clients.

Can HD Reverse the Decline of Voice?
HD is the only growth opportunity for voice and will reverse the decline of voice usage. That's the word from Daniel Berninger, CEO of Pulver.com's Free World Dialup, which has launched a project called HD Connect to move HD voice forward.

Ecessa Partners with MyTELEPATH, NetSapiens to Offer SIP Delivery to SMEs
Ecessa, a provider of WAN link controllers for WAN and ISP link aggregation, automated load balancing, failover and network security, today announced that telephony provider MyTELEPATH is using the company's ClariLink, the first WAN controller with specialized SIP-application delivery, to manage multiple broadband links and ensure reliability of VoIP services. Company officials will offer a live demonstrate of the solution at booth #224 during Technology Marketing Corporation's ITEXPO West 2009 tradeshow, which is now underway at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Officials from NetSapiens will also host a demonstration at booth #306 at ITEXPO West 2009.

Epygi Technologies, FaxBack Announce Partnership to Enhance VoIP Phone Systems at ITEXPO
Epygi Technologies, Ltd., a provider of small to medium business IP PBX telephone systems, has forged an alliance with FaxBack, a provider of VoIP fax server solutions for business, enterprise and carrier applications to add the FaxBack's Microsoft Fax Plug-in into the company's business communication systems. The Texas-based company, which designs and manufactures products using its own IP PBX call manager software based on standard SIP technology, announced the partnership today at Technology Marketing Corporation's ITEXPO West 2009 tradeshow, which is now underway at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Modevity Selects Verizon for Cloud Computing Services
Modevity, a provider of content rights management solutions, has selected Verizon Business' SMB Solutions, specifically the Verizon Computing as a Service, or "Caas," which allows businesses to use cloud computing to manage their IT resources.

AudioCodes, Zarlink Eye Higher-Quality VoIP
AudioCodes – an Israel-based company that designs, manufactures and sells advanced Voice over IP and converged VoIP and data networking products and applications to service providers and enterprises – is a platinum sponsor of ITEXPO and officials from the company are participating in three speaking sessions during the show, which concludes tomorrow.

ITEXPO West 2009: Creating Mobile Voice and Video Applications
Mobility is quickly becoming a huge consideration in the enterprise. Because many developers and VoIP corporations are trying to find a way to make employee mobility a reality with reliable applications and software, TMC's ITEXPO West 2009 is hosting a conference session entitled, "Creating Mobile Voice & Video Applications."

AltiGen Adds Progressive Telcom to Partner Network
AltiGen Communications, a California-based provider of Microsoft-based VoIP business phone systems and Unified Communications (UC) solutions, recently announced that that Hawaiian telecom integrator, Progressive Telcom, has joined the company's partner network.

TelcoBridges Intros New Networking Monitoring Tools at ITEXPO
Probably not as widely understood is the fact that TelcoBridges leverages much of that same technology to deliver real-time network monitoring devices, which detect, filter, and record signaling and voice traffic. The company this week at ITEXPO West 2009 unveiled new iterations of these tools, which can enable service providers to do next-generation network monitoring, support lawful intercept and deliver location-based services applications.

XCast Labs Adds Two Cableco Customers
The company revealed today that it will provide its SaaS-based digital voice and video services to American Cable Services of Florida, and Suite Solutions Technologies of Ohio.

Grandstream Announces Availability of IP Multimedia Device
Grandstream Networks, a manufacturer of next-generation IP voice, video and IP-PBX (News - Alert) products, today announced the general availability of the GXV3140 IP Multimedia Phone, a new broadband IP multimedia phone that blends Web and social multimedia applications with real-time IP video and voice calling. Company officials will highlight the new offering as part of its exhibit in booth # 418 at Technology Marketing Corporation's Internet Telephony Conference and Expo (ITEXPO) West 2009, which runs today through Sept. 3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

8x8 Announces New 'Virtual Meeting' Web Conferencing Solution at ITEXPO
As the economy continues along a somewhat rocky path to recovery, it has never been more important for small and medium sized business to have access to the same communications tools as the largest of enterprises.

Avaya 'Facephone' Prototype Reveals Implications for the Enterprise
Avaya officials announced an application prototype – "Facephone" – that integrates IP-based, real-time multimedia communications that can help enterprises leverage the amount of available data on the massively popular site, Facebook.

NENGroup Joins as the New Member of Whaleback Systems' Premier Partner Program
New England Network Group, Inc, a provider of full-service managed IT services, has reportedly joined as the new member of the Whaleback Systems Premier Partner Program.

Netbooks Are Hot Commodities among Mexico SMBs: Report
Access Markets International Partners, Inc.'s recent Q-Pulse Quarterly Tracking Study reportedly indicated that Mexico small and medium-sized businesses plan to buy close to half a million netbooks in the next 3 months. This, according to the study is mentioned as a tremendous market opportunity for netbooks providers. "Netbooks are beginning to make inroads in the Mexico SMB market. Portability and low-cost are key appealing attributes," said Sau Lam, a senior analyst with AMI-Partners, in a statement.

VoIP Providers and the Economy: Innovate, Entrench, or Consolidate?
The communications industry, while not entirely immune to it, has felt less of an impact that most during the economic downturn that has crippled more than just a few companies (even some in the telecom space). In fact, many telecom providers and vendors have experienced growth during the recession, like 8x8, which recently moved into a new corporate headquarters facility that could accommodate its growth.

MERA Systems to Announce Rollout of New VoIP Softswitches at ITEXPO
At next week's ITEXPO West, held Sept. 1 to 3 in Los Angeles, MERA Systems will lift the curtain on its upgraded, next-generation VoIP product portfolio – and give attendees a glimpse of two new products it plans to roll out by the end of September. That's just the first of many plans for the next 12 months announced by the Toronto-based developer of tandem softswitches and session-border controllers for VoIP, which help carriers and service providers manage VoIP calls.

AirClic Sees Increased Demand for its Data Capture Device
AirClic, the mobile solutions provider for business operations, reported said it is seeing increased demand for it's recently unveiled Fusion all-in-one ruggedized data capture device. According to AirClic, the Fusion device was designed specifically for the new Motorola Renegade V950 ruggedized cell phone and includes bar code scanning, electronic signature capture, photo capture, voice notes and advanced GPS capabilities. With these added capabilities, the device is able to expand upon basic 'proof of delivery' to provide indisputable proof of service levels and accountability through signature and photo capture.

Managed Services Spend Expected to Produce Growth Rate of 9.6 Percent by 2010
Managed services are becoming a key strategic initiative for small businesses as they search for ways to maintain tight budgets in an economic environment where companies are bent on slow spending and cutbacks.

Pryme Selects FiberLight for its Tier III Data Center in Virginia
Optical network solutions provider, FiberLight has been chosen by Pryme Technologies, which delivers Colocation, Custom Colocation Pod and IP Transport solutions to enterprise and SMBs.

ORCS Intros a New Small Business Shared Hosting Solution
Charlotte, NC-based web-hosting company ORCS Web, Inc. has reportedly unveiled its new Small Business Shared Hosting solution, a shared solution which the company claims is more practical and cost-effective than its predecessors.

Alianza Signs Definitive Agreement with Open Range Communications
Alianza, Inc., a provider of hosted voice over WiMAX solutions, reportedly has signed a definitive agreement with Open Range Communications Inc., wherein Alianza will power Open Range's residential and small/medium business voice offerings that will be bundled with its wireless broadband services and deployed in more than 500 communities in 17 states.

Sir Terry Matthews Accepts Keynote Speaker Invitation for ITEXPO West
"I believe the opportunity to hear Terry's views on technology, telecom, and entrepreneurship alone is worth the trip to ITEXPO, and I'm looking forward to seeing Terry in Los Angeles," said Rich Tehrani, TMC president and ITEXPO conference chairman.

iCore Networks Inaugurates User Friendly Web site
iCore Networks, provider of voice over private Internet services, has reportedly launched company's new Web site offering information about the company's VoPI products and services, as well as resourceful information and news about the telecom industry.

VeriSign Launches How-to Site on Small Business Online Success
Internet infrastructure service provider, VeriSign, announced the launch of a Web site aimed to provide small and early stage businesses with tips on how succeed in the online world. Companies trying to make succeed online will have useful tips on how to sell their products creatively simultaneously receiving information about security and trust awareness from the new how-to site.

Mirapoint Debuts RazorSafe 150 E-mail Archiving Appliance for Small Enterprises
Mirapoint specializing in secure-messaging announced RazorSafe 150 within its archiving appliance family. The new RazorSafe 150 provides set-and-forget e-mail archiving solution which caters to the needs of small enterprises as well as corporations that do not have an archiving solution or who employ a backup-tape system for e-mail retention.

Wireless Growth as Fuel for Mobile VoIP
The reasons are varied, though many operators face high costs, as well as a lot of complexity and time as they seek to upgrade their networks to support mobile VoIP.

Voxbone Survey: Multiple Changes in Phone Numbers Alienates Friends and Contacts
One of the major drawbacks of changing phone numbers multiple times is losing touch with friends and contacts, according to the results of a new survey by telecom company Voxbone.

Telecommunications Expanding to Sectors of Business Industry
With telecommunications expanding to all sectors - including small and medium sized businesses - all facets of the business are now finding benefit from communications technology.

Cbeyond Brings VoIP to Chicago Pretzel Company
With the help of IP-based managed service provider, Cbeyond, Inc., a Chicago-based husband-and-wife entrepreneur team, Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels, can now remain focused on growth, rather than on managing its communications services.

Business VoIP Battles the Effects of Swine Flu on Business
Just a few days ago, federal officials urged businesses and employers to prepare for a widespread outbreak of swine flu this fall that could spark an unusually high rate of employee absenteeism. The flu outbreak—which still remains unpredictable---could potentially leave many important posts empty during a time of economic recovery.

Liberals, RIM Turn Up Heat on Canadian Government Over Nortel Sale
The opposition Liberal party stepped up its attacks on the minority Conservative government's handling of the sale of Nortel's assets to non-Canadian firms in a prelude to a possible fall election campaign.

Feature Phones Dominate Sales, According to Study
The NPD Group, formerly known as National Purchase Diary, reportedly announced the results of its latest research for the second quarter of 2009 based on sales of mobile handset devices in the U.S. via its Mobile Phone Track information system, and said its main findings were that the feature phone segment still dominates sales and the Smartphone segment is making steadily gaining in momentum.

RiT Technologies Intros Real-Time Connectivity Management Solution
EPV continuously gathers information related to connections within the enterprise's patch panels and communication racks. By instantaneously detecting connectivity changes, EPV sends notifications and alerts the moment a change occurs.

Cox Wins 2009 North American Broadband Customer Value Leadership Award
Through this honor, Cox has been recognized for providing its customers a host of Internet options including the Economy/Starter package, which provides a low-cost, simple solution to get customers online, Ultimate Internet, Cox's DOCSIS 3.0-based service which offers download speeds up to 50 Mbps and the free Cox Security Suite powered by McAfee.

Online Media Beats Traditional Media among SMB Advertisers
New findings from analyst firm The Kelsey Group, a division of BIA Advisory Services, shows that for the first time, penetration of digital/online media has exceeded that of traditional media among small and medium-sized business (SMB) advertisers.

Sonasoft Providing Archiving Appliance to Cobalt Customers
Cobalt designed the offering to help businesses of all sizes, private or public to safeguard against future litigation risks. The product has the ability to effectively scale and optimize the exchange server storage infrastructure and can improve simple day to day employee email records and access management.

A Business Owner's Hidden Asset
Rarely have business owners been faced with the difficult economic survival decisions required today. A small business owner's greatest immediate threat however is not the economy, but suddenly being unable to participate in daily operations. In businesses where critical decisions and leadership rest with one person, the business's future is quickly threatened when that person cannot participate.

Apptix Announces Q2 EBITDA Growth
Apptix, a provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange e-mail, Microsoft SharePoint collaboration services, and hosted VoIP phone services for small and medium businesses, has reported fourth consecutive quarter of EBITDA growth, as well as an increase in the number of customers and end-users in the second quarter of 2009.

XO Communications Announces Enhancements to VoIP Services Portfolio
Communications service provider XO Communications reportedly announced enhancements to its voice over IP services portfolio to help businesses simplify and streamline communications for multi-location enterprises.

Report: Economic Clouds Beginning to Break for SMBs in Brazil
Small and medium businesses in Brazil reportedly appear to be recovering from the recession after months of poor performance in the face of weak global demand for their products. A recent study conducted by AMI Research has found negative business sentiment beginning to level off in Brazil's SBM sector and being replaced by a cautiously optimistic attitude.

Helping Service Providers Prepare for Next-Gen IP Multimedia, Services: XConnect
According to Eli Katz – CEO of XConnect, whose U.S. offices are headquartered in Tarrytown, N.Y. – questions also loom about how quickly SPs can route those services to endpoints found among other providers.

Xila Broadband Reduces its Setup Fee
Xila Broadband has opened a new monthly option for resellers to begin offering their own DSL and VoIP brand for a one-time setup fee of $59.99 and then only $22.99 a month.

New York Blower Co. Cuts Communications Costs, Improves Operations with Appia's Hosted VoIP
What are the benefits of switching from traditional phone service to hosted VoIP? Just ask The New York Blower Company, which manufactures premium-quality, engineered fans and blowers for the industrial and OEM marketplace.

According to Forrester, Managed Services Get Boost From Down Economy
A recent survey from Forrester Research, Inc. says that almost 20 percent of IT professionals are purchasing more managed services as a result of current economic conditions.

NuVox Intros Social Media Campaign for Brand Awareness
NuVox, a provider of voice, data, business applications, and security services for business customers, reportedly announced it has launched a Social Media campaign to increase brand awareness and establish an enhanced presence on the World Wide Web.

U.K. Excel Passengers Can Now Enjoy Free Wi-Fi Connectivity
Icomera AB, a provider of cellular broadband gateways, has announced recently that UK-based Excel Passenger Logistics chose the company's award-winning Moovbox M200 Mobile Broadband Gateway to provide Wi-Fi connectivity and GPS tracking on buses and coaches serving British airports.

Integra Telecom Launches Broadband Internet in Colorado Service Areas
Integra Telecom Inc., a facilities-based, integrated communications provider, has reportedly launched Broadband Internet in its Colorado service areas. Company officials said that the new product offers enterprise-level Internet access at rates that fit the small- and medium-sized business budget. According to officials, Integra's Broadband Internet products are the only offering of their kind among competitive telecom providers in Integra's territory today. The services combine the bandwidth potential of Integra's metropolitan network infrastructure with two phone-grade copper lines to deliver download speeds of 5, 15 and 25 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 2 Mbps.

Microsoft OCS Exemplifies True 'Cracking' of App Layer: OAISYS
According to Brian Spencer, president of OAISYS, convergence drilled through the layers of the communications network – starting with the physical layer with IP transport, then into the server layer with integrated and optimized network servers for voice and data – is truly "cracking the application layer."

8x8 Moves to New Corporate Headquarters
A provider of voice, video and mobile communications solutions for business and residential customers said its recent relocation to new corporate headquarters is complete. Officials with 8x8 said the move to its expanded corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale, Calif. helps it better accommodate its workforce, which has increased steadily over the last year.

Investment Advisor Spectrum Financial Picks Ecessa's WAN Link Controllers
Ecessa, a provider of wireless area network solutions for small-to-medium sized enterprises, announced that Spectrum Financial, a SEC Registered Investment Advisor, selected Ecessa's PowerLink WAN device for reliable Internet connectivity even during ISP outages.

Apptix Unveils Office Communicator Mobile
"By extending secure IM to mobile devices, Apptix enables employees to communicate and collaborate more productively," said Rick Rumbarger, Vice President of Product for Apptix.

UAE's Etisalat Selects Alcatel-Lucent's IP Telephony Solutions
Alcatel-Lucent has been selected by Etisalat, the UAE's leading telecommunications service provider, for the turnkey deployment of the state-of-the-art IP-based telephony solutions across Etisalat's offices in the UAE.

WokiDoki Service Offers Interaction with Multiple Businesses Using a Single WEB
Lafayette, Calif.-based Vertex Logic Inc. has launched an online service called WokiDoki, which allows users to interact with a restaurant, dentist office, bank and school-teacher on the same Web page.

SMBs Turning to Hosted Products, Parallels Reports
Automation and virtualization vendor Parallels has reportedly announced increased demand for its Parallels Automation offering among its hosting provider partners. The service delivers applications like Microsoft Hosted Exchange in a Software-as-a-service, or "SaaS" model.

Nortel Again Faces the Auction Block – and Parliament
A bankrupt Nortel – a company that today posted dramatically lower revenues and announced the departure of its president and CEO – is on the chopping block again, two different kinds of blocks in quite separate venues, but having remarkably similar literal and metaphorical results: a dismemberment of the onetime technology giant.

Consolidated Communications Taps Innovectra Corporation for Internet Yellow Pages Services
Innovectra Corporation has been reportedly selected by Consolidated Communications to become its new Internet Yellow Pages services provider. The companies are launching a new Internet directory portal featuring a powerful keyword, listings-based search engine, for the Official Phone Books published by Consolidated Communications.

SkypeCap Intros SkypeCap for Mac 3.1
SkypeCap reportedly announced the release of its latest software application, SkypeCap for Mac 3.1, which helps customers record audio and video sessions in real time from Skype originated interactions, and allows human interactions during the sessions

APconnections Releases Results of Bandwidth Monitoring Study
APconnections has released the results of a month-long study looking into the needs of bandwidth monitoring technology users. The study was conducted to determine the priority users place on detailed reporting compared to the overall impact on network optimization.

Proper Placement Selects Virtual Phone Service from my1voice
Proper Placement, a virtual company that helps individual business professionals to market and advertise their businesses online, has chosen the virtual phone service from my1voice. This contract will help Proper Placement to get features associated with corporate phone systems.

Harmonic and its Rhozet Business Unit Win 2009 Internet Telephony IPTV Excellence Awards
The Direct-2-Edge cable IP TV platform and Rhozet Carbon Coder universal transcoding software from Harmonic Inc have received the 2009 IPTV Excellence Award presented by Internet Telephony magazine of Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC).

Transition to Voice-Over-Broadband to Help Fixed-Line Carrier IP Telephony Market Grow, Says Study
A recent report by Dell'Oro Group, a networking and telecommunications industry research firm, suggests that service providers will resume network modernization projects in 2010 as the economy stabilizes, thereby expecting a growth in fixed-line carrier IP telephony market but only after 2010

OEM Security Vendor Licenses vPurity Software to Harden it VoIP Offering
An un-named OEM security vendor has licensed Salare Security's recently-released vPurity solution that addresses VoIP security. The OEM security vendor reportedly rushed to license the solution to protect its clients from the increasing security risks of VoIP that require mitigation.

D-Link's Seven 802.11n Routers Qualify For The 'Compatible With Windows 7' Logo Program
Among D-Link's 802.11n routers, seven have passed Windows 7 Logo testing, thereby qualifying them for the "Compatible with Windows 7" Logo program. D-Link provides connectivity for small, medium and large enterprise business networking.

Sipera Systems Debuts UC-Sec 100 Security Appliance for SMBs
Sipera Systems has stated that it has released the UC-Sec 100 security appliance for small and medium businesses. With the new solution SMBs can avail comprehensive privacy and threat protection for VoIP and unified communications.

IPsmarx Technology Selects Encore's SP-201-Z Signaling Gateway to Deliver Global SS7 Connectivity
IPsmarx Technology has selected Encore Networks' SP-201-Z signaling gateway to offer C7 to ISDN protocol conversion and other VoIP based solutions to long distance carriers and operators.

National Telecom Consultants Forays into Telecom Consulting Domain
National Telecom Consultants has announced it is entering the telecom-consulting marketplace. NTC is expected to now recommend best-practice solutions focusing on procurement, network optimization and professional servicesv

VoIP Technology Gives SMBs a Boost in Weak Economy
In an economic downturn, few industries are recession-proof. Yet, the VoIP phone market is one of the small handful of sectors showing signs of growth as businesses look to save money with easy-to-deploy solutions, the marketing chief for a Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based creator of telephone systems for small businesses, told TMCnet in an interview.

Unified360 Inaugurates Second Branch Operation in San Antonio, Texas
Jim Barker, CEO of Unified360 said they have been very fortunate in these tough times to continue their growth. He said that the company is helping businesses better control, and in most cases, reduce their technology and communication expenses.

Carlson Wireless Rolls Out LH-900 and LH-700 Point-to-Point Radios
"Significant portions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act are directed at rural high-speed Internet access and implement Smart Grid projects. Non line of sight capability combined with our solar power solution make these products important tools when reaching our most rural and remote customers."

eMazzanti Technologies Named Partner of the Year by M5 Networks
eMazzanti Technologies has announced that M5 Networks has recognized the company as its partner of the year for the New Jersey Region. eMazzanti has consistently received high scores in M5's customer satisfaction surveys and has had a long relationship with M5, claims the company.

Real-Time IP Traffic Support the Key to VoIP, UC: Datasharp UK Ltd.
Paul Fullman, U.K. sales director for Truro, Cornwall-based Datasharp UK Ltd., told TMC CEO Rich Tehrani in an interview – printed in full below – that his company already is partnering with many U.S.-based resellers to provide installation and support services in the United States.

ABI Research: Monthly Mobile Data Traffic in 2014 Will Exceed Total from 2008
Considering how many of us use our mobile phones, especially the younger generations, for texting, it should come as no surprise that data traffic will increase in the coming years. Working on the go, e-mails can now be sent from anywhere using a BlackBerry or any other smart phone.

BBH Solutions Partners with IP Trade Networks
BBH Solutions, Inc., a New York City provider of converged network solutions and customized IT service plans, reportedly has partnered with IP Trade Networks to provide advanced voice and application services to the New York City area trading community.

Logic Software Launches Special Pricing For Easy Projects .Net
The recent economic downturn has increased the growing demand from SMBs for affordable enterprise project management and team collaboration tools.

1.55 Million SMBs Will Buy Notebooks with SSDs in 2009, Study Says
Techaisle Research has completed its latest market research survey titled, "Current and Potential Purchase of Notebooks with Solid State Drives (SSDs)", and said its most significant finding is that 1.55 million Small to Medium Businesses in established and developing markets are more than likely to purchase Notebooks with SSDs in the second half of 2009.

Sonus Networks Helps KDDI Global to Migrate to Next Generation Network
IP communications infrastructure developer Sonus Networks has announced that KDDI Global, Japan's second largest communications carrier, is leveraging a Sonus IP-based network for expanding its business into the US, EMEA and across ASIA. The network is being operated by KDDI Global itself and serves Los Angeles, London, Osaka and Tokyo. It is already carrying more than 100 million voice minutes per month. Earlier this year, TMCnet had reported that Intelepeer has also chosen Sonus to help expand its Next-Gen Voice Network.

Funambol Intros Open Source Mobile Cloud Sync for Mobile VoIP
Funambol has reportedly introduced the world's first open source mobile cloud sync solution for mobile Voice over Internet Protocol, or "VoiP," which allows mVoIP users to sync contacts from a sources including mobile phones, e-mail systems, personal computers and social networks. By leveraging the solution's contact syncing ability, users are able to call more people and also increase mVoIP utilization. The solution is based on open source, and thus it can be fully customized.

Syn-Apps Deploys Latest Version of SA-Announce Notification System
Syn-Apps LLC, a provider of IP Communications and Unified Communications applications, reportedly announced the latest version of its notification platform, SA-Announce 7.0.73, featuring more enhancements than the previous versions. SA-Announce Notification System is a feature-rich notification system, which provides text as well as audio notifications across an enterprise.

Fujitsu Releases New FlexFrame for Oracle with Oracle VM Support
Fujitsu, a provider of IT-based business solutions, has reportedly announced the new version of FlexFrame for Oracle with integrated Oracle VM to help the deployment of dynamic infrastructure in enterprises and provide high availability across both physical and virtual servers.

MyFax Improves Tessuto Vertica's Workflow Efficiency
MyFax, an independent business vertical and also a provider of Software-as-a-Solution, or "SaaS" from Protus IP Solutions, reportedly announced that its namesake solution has been successfully integrated into the sales operations of Tessuto Vertica, a wall covering vendor.

D-Link Enters into Partnership with Best Path Networks
Voice over IP services, marketed using dual- and triple-play bundles, are reshaping the European fixed-line market, researchers at TeleGeography said. VoIP now accounts for more than 24 percent of fixed-line telephone subscribers in Europe and about 10 percent of voice revenue. VoIP service revenue of $5.79 billion is still dwarfed by the nearly $50.8 billion generated by traditional switched fixed-line services. And that's the reason incumbent telcos are sober about the pace at which they introduce consumer VoIP or business IP telephony. Swapping a traditional voice line for a VoIP line actually reduces revenue, whereas an attacking provider might be happy enough grabbing an account with lower average revenue per user.

D-Link Enters into Partnership with Best Path Networks
D-Link, the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consumer and business, has entered into a partnership with San Francisco, Calif.-based Best Path Networks to deliver Advanced Domain Name System Services and Anti-Phishing free to D-Link customers directly through their D-Link device and at no additional cost to customers. Best Path Networks, a subsidiary of OpenDNS, is a provider of security, DNS and Internet navigation services to partners around the world.

Verizon and DIRECTV Eye NFL Fans
Under the pact, qualifying customers who are football fans can now sign up for a Verizon broadband bundle with DIRECTV service that the companies claim beats the best of cable's current offers.

AT&T Reports Significant Second-Quarter Increase in Wi-Fi Hotspot Connections
AT&T has reportedly announced a significant increase in the number of Wi-Fi connections on the AT&T network for the second-quarter. The company attributed the rising number of customers with Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones with an increase number of connections. A communications holding company, AT&T provides wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet and voice services and also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide.

TMC Communications Launches Rate Assurance Program
Telecom company TMC Communications has launched a new "Rate Assurance Program" that allows customers the ability to renegotiate their pricing on a multi-year contract after they fulfill an initial year of service.

AMD Introduces High-End 3D Graphics Card
Advanced Micro Devices, more famously known as AMD, reportedly announced the introduction of its latest product, the ATI FirePro V8750 3D workstation graphics accelerator, which is created to help high-end graphic users such as engineering designers, digital content creation experts, virtual reality creators, and oil and gas professionals to work at the speed of thought.

TMC Communications Launches Rate Assurance Program
If they have a lower overall offering from a competing tier one carrier or reseller, TMC will consider matching the offering as long as they provide TMC the quote and any applicable billing surcharges being imposed by the provider.

ClickFuel Uses Ifbyphone Call-Tracking Services for SMBs
Ifbyphone's call-tracking services is helping ClickFuel, a full-service Internet marketing innovator, to provide SMBs with advanced tools for tracking online ads that generate phone calls.

Mindspeed Adds Two New Devices to Comcerto 300 Series VoIP Processors Family
Mindspeed Technologies, a provider of semiconductor solutions for network infrastructure applications, announced that it has extended its Comcerto 300 Series of VoIP processors by adding two new devices, M82351 and M82352. The new offerings will be offering focused performance for low-density VoIP applications in FTTx (eight and 16 port fiber-based access) equipments.

Verizon Will Ramp Up VoIP Effort Sooner Than You Think
Verizon second quarter results were highlighted by healthy gains across strategic growth areas such as wireless, broadband Internet and video. That isn't news. Nor is it news that traditional voice lines continue to erode. Up to this point, showing growth in the wireless and broadband areas arguably has been most important, as it shows a path forward from the voice-driven business to a new model.

Evolving Mobile VoIP, WiFi Technologies Support Market Growth
There's no debating that wireless technologies are the wave of the future. But the keys to success are keeping pace with always-changing market trends and meeting customer expectations, the head of a London-based software platform provider told TMCnet in an interview. Michael Bibelman, CEO of VoipSwitch, a subsidiary of Voiceserve Inc., said two technologies that already show signs of steady growth using such devices are mobile VoIP and WiFi.

ShoreTel Surpasses 10,000 Enterprise Customers
A provider of IP phone systems with fully integrated unified communications announced it has surpassed its ten-thousandth enterprise customer.

8x8 Virtual Office IP Phone Solution Aids Keller Williams Tri-Valley Realty
A Santa Clara-based VoIP phone service provider along a Fremont-based managed IT service reportedly have become part of real estate agency Keller Williams, providing the phone systems and network support for the firm's Tri-Valley Realty, or "Market Center" offices serving Pleasanton, Dublin, and Livermore and home to over 170 Keller Williams agents.

AMI-Partners Predicts Growth in the SMB Networking Market
New research by AMI-Partners predicted that the networking market will reach $1.6 billion in 2009. According to the company, the falling demand in markets such as Australia, Japan and Korea have not changed the spending patterns of the SMB players on networking. One of the major reasons for this growth will be insistence of SMBs to cut travel costs of their employees as much as possible. Software-based VoIP and conferencing solutions have emerged as attractive alternatives to traveling and therein hides the secret of the success of APAC SMB networking market, AMI-Partners said.

Nortel Auction Takes Equipment Maker into the Long Good Night
The Canadian Press reports that Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has submitted the highest official bid before the process began, offering $730 million. TMC reported yesterday that MatlinPatterson and Nokia Siemens had put in bids at 725-million and $650 million respectively.

GURU Offers Business Owners IT Project JumpStart Program
In the current economic conditions, companies are in search of ways to boost productivity, especially for IT support services, without increasing costs.

Alvarion Enters into Agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks
Alvarion, a provider of WiMAX and wireless broadband solutions, has entered into an agreement with Nokia Siemens Networks, a global enabler of communications network solutions and services, to expand the existing OEM agreement to including Alvarion's portfolio of mobile WiMAX solutions.

Sprint Makes Ford F-150 Both Work Vehicle and Internet Connected Work Office
Sprint has equipped the Ford F-150 truck with Ford Work Solutions applications and its mobile broadband network internet connectivity and made the truck into both a brawny work vehicle and a brainy Internet-connected mobile office.

BroadSoft BroadWorks for Samsung's WyzHome
BroadSoft, Inc., the well-known global VoIP applications provider, has announced that it is furnishing IP voice technology for Samsung Networks Inc.'s residential 070 VoIP service, WyzHome, which was launched in October 2008.

VoIP, WiFi Investment to Drive Industry Growth
According to Jan Linden, president of engineering of Global IP Solutions, IP communications will continue to play a large role in Asia, with North America and Europe following close behind over the next few years. One factor that may fuel interest is support in the form of federal funding to implement various technologies, including VoIP and WiFi.

RADCOM's Omni-Q Selected to Monitor Multinational IMS Deployment
RADCOM officials said that a tier-one incumbent operator, serving over one million IMS subscribers, has been using the company's troubleshooting and monitoring solutions in several countries for many years.

Samsung Announces OfficeServ 7000 4.30i, Adds Mobility Features
Samsung Business Communication Systems focuses on the unified communications experience with enhancements to its OfficeServ 7000 family of IP PBXs, including three new built-in mobility features: OfficeServ Connect for simultaneous ringing (to five other numbers), MOBEX for assigning an extension to a cell phone, home phone or other phone number outside the OfficeServ System and Hot Desking. Additional Version 4.30i functionality enables SIP peering (OfficeServ 7100), emergency dialing for Samsung ITP keysets, increased voicemail capacity (to 20 ports), support for a new IP-UMS unified messaging server and new license options with trial licensing.

AT&T Receives Market Leadership Award for Retail Carrier Ethernet Services.
AT&T was honored based on revenue and market share within the industry. Through interviews with market participants and extensive secondary research of proprietary data sources, Frost & Sullivan is said to have evaluated all players in the industry. The award has recognized AT&T's comprehensive suite of carrier Ethernet services, including access, e-line and e-LAN.

How Broadband Stimulus Could Bolster the VoIP Market: 8x8
With a nudge from federal officials as to Internet telephony's usefulness as an application, the proliferation of broadband Internet – an effort now underway in earnest, with stimulus funds behind it – could help boost the VoIP market, officials with the Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of Packet8 business, mobile and residential broadband communications services told TMCnet in an interview.

Nimbuzz Launches Updates for Both iPhone and iPod Touch Application
Nimbuzz has launched updates for both iPhone and iPod touch application and also unveiled a new desktop client for Apple Mac computers.

China Unicom Partners with GyPSii for 3G Mobile Social Networking Solution
Shanghai Unicom has reportedly partnered with GeoSentric Oyj to incorporate GyPSii mobile social network application to its new consumer 3G SNS Service, UniSpace.

Report: Cablevision Earns Top Ranking in Telecommunications Voice Services Study
Optimum Business by Cablevision obtained the highest rating in customer satisfaction among small/midsize and home-based business customer with local telephone services, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates. The report also said that when it comes to large enterprise business segment, Verizon ranks highest among customers.

AT&T Announces Small Biz Tech Makeover Contest
Officials at the company said that though business owners may already have what it takes on a personal level to succeed, the contest will test whether they have what it takes inside their office.

Microsoft Announces Microsoft Communication Services for the SMB Market
The program provides a common set of marketing collateral and the ability to utilize the Microsoft brand beyond individual product brands. This, according to Microsoft, will give the partners better recognition in the SMB marketplace.

Jingle Networks Launches Free, Ad-Supported Long Distance Service
Jingle Networks, a U.S.-based operator offering the '1-800-FREE411' ad-supported free directory assistance service, recently launched a new long distance service.

What's Your VoIP Peer-age?
"VoIP Peering" is quite a general term that can be construed to mean any one of several models operating on different levels. The best known models involve carriers exchanging network connections, while others assist the enterprise in federating data and voice with partners, suppliers and customers – one can easily confuse Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)-trunking with carrier VoIP Peering.

Virgin Media Unveils New Management Policy for Heavy Users
Virgin Media UK is instituting a broadband traffic management policy that will, over a period of time, restrict the bandwidth consumption of the top two percent of customers, during peak times, who are "downloading and or uploading an unusually large amount."

JAJAH Plays Cupid with Match.com, eHarmony through VoIP Service
People looking for a love connection online may soon find that their soul mates are only a phone call, or text message away. Online dating services Match.com and eHarmony announced a plan this week to use a new JAJAH Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, platform that lets prospective daters make anonymous voice calls to other love seekers. The new feature, part of JAJAH's "Platform for Dating," lets users get in touch with a possible match through an online voice call while keeping their personal contact information private.

Continuum Picks Silver Peak to Optimize Business Apps Across WAN
Continuum, a global innovation and design consultancy, is reportedly using Silver Peak's NX appliances to optimize Apple file sharing and other business critical applications across the WAN

eBLVD.com Offers Bail Out Options for Small Business Owners
eBLVD.com reportedly announced that it is introducing a new way to help small business owners by offering a 40 percent discount on its online meetings and Web conferencing services. "We want to do our part to help other small businesses survive and even prosper during this economic crisis," said Marv Toyer, Founder of eBLVD.com. "According to the Small Business Administration, small business owners like us create 7 out of 10 new jobs in this country. Since federal economic aid is only being directed towards big business, we need to take it upon ourselves to support each other."

IBM Announces 'Office In a Box' for SMBs
IBM is announcing a self-managing, "office in a box" appliance for small and midsized businesses, a market niche IBM last counted itself a member of in, oh, 1916 or so.

i2Telecom Expands MyGlobalTalk Scope
i2Telecom International reportedly announced its international calling solution, MyGlobalTalk, has been suitably adapted to allow users in 31 select countries to save on international calls.

ThomasNet Uses Force.com Sites for Online Recruiting
ThomasNet, an online destination providing access to industrial companies, government, and the military to search for and purchase products and services they need, is reportedly utlising Force.com Sites to run its online recruiting efforts.

Business VoIP PBX Services and Online Virtual Offices Make Great Combination
For years online virtual worlds have catered solely to gamers, but according to the Boston Globe, it seems that the focus may be shifting. IBM's Lotus division is launching a new service called Sametime 3D, a virtual world designed specifically for business. The virtual office features conference tables, appointment calendars, flip charts, and avatars that represent individuals.

Teo Partners with AltiGen to Develop Microsoft-Based Unified Communications Platform
Teo, formerly known as Tone Commander, and a telecommunications company specializing in telephone and network solutions, has reportedly collaborated with AltiGen Communications Inc., to create a feature rich, easy to install, Microsoft-based Unified Communications platform. AltiGen Communications is a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone systems

Go Configure to Cut Costs and Increase Productivity with Ifbyphone
This relationship is another example of how small and medium businesses (SMBs) are relying on Ifbyphone and its suite of hosted business productivity applications to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of processes including outbound call scheduling and post-visit customer surveys.

Siemens Delivers UC to SMBs via Simple Software Upgrade
Yet UC tools have traditionally been too expensive for SMBs even when the ROIs have been there because of limited budgets. It is not so much the purchase prices that quash potential projects, say industry sources, but the hidden IT costs, such as having to install IP telephony, that can make them unaffordable.

Broadband Stimulus Now is Blocking and Tackling
For potential broadband stimulus applicants, about 90 percent of what must be done now is blocking and tackling, possibly 10 percent is about inspiration. The reason is simply that with the notice of funding availability now out, applicants have until Aug. 14, 2009 to get their completed applications submitted.

SMBs Have One Less Choice for VoIP Solution
Small and medium-sized businesses looking for an inexpensive phone system that allows for hassle-free communications have one less option as a major player has cancelled it solution. Microsoft Corp. has reportedly pulled back on its Response Point small business VoIP system solution because the product failed to integrate with its larger unified communications vision.

Nortel Debuts Sales of CS 1000 R6.0, a Unified Communications Solution
Nortel reportedly announced the debut of global sales for its voice services and Unified Communications (UC) solution, the Communication Server (CS) 1000 Release 6.0, that simplifies installation and user interaction, is fail-safe rugged and has advanced security levels, and its design is mainly based on customer feed-back.

Significant Wireless and Wired Growth for the Chinese SMB Sector, According to Study
Access Markets International (AMI) Partners reportedly announced the availability of its latest market research effort titled, "2009 Marketing Telecommunications Products and Services to SMBs in China: Market Opportunity, Competitive Environment, End-User Needs and Buying Behavior," and said its main finding is that there significant scope for growth in both the wired and wireless telecommunications for the Small to Medium Business (SMB) market segments in China.

Globalive Wireless Picks DragonWave's Ethernet Backhaul Solutions for 3G Network Build across Canada
DragonWave, a global supplier of high-capacity and wireless native Ethernet backhaul solutions for mobile and access networks, is offering its services to Globalive Wireless Management Corp.

Telanetix Intros Single Phone System For Many Companies
Telanetix reportedly announced the release of a new version of its Digital Phone System (DPS) product, which is specifically created for Small Offices and Home Offices, and other Small Business Market segments, so that entrepreneurs can run more than one organization from same or different buildings, based on requirements, and with the same staffing resources, by using only a single telephone system.

Cypress Communications Honored for Hosted VoIP and Hosted Unified Communications
Cypress Communications has announced that its hosted IP hosted VoIP and hosted unified communications solution has been recognized for product innovation. This award was delivered by Technology Marketing Corporation's (TMC) Unified Communications publication.

NET Completes Interoperability Testing with IBM's Sametime Unified Telephony
Company officials said interoperability between Sametime Unified Telephony and the NET VX1200 brings service providers and customers more flexibility when it comes to deploying unified communications and collaboration solutions.

Adoption of VoIP Expected to Increase: Reports Infonetics
Infonetics Research, a market research and consulting firm, recently published the latest results of its service provider survey, Global WiMAX Service Strategy 2009-2011.

MERA Systems Replaces MVTS I with MVTS Pro
MERA Systems, a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) softswitch solutions, reportedly announced 'End of Life' for its VoIP Transit Softswitch I, which has been the most popular VoIP softswitch from the company for more than six years.

Teoma Standardizes Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex Smart WLAN Technology for VoIP, WLAN Deployment
Teoma Systems, a voice, data and video solutions systems integrator, said that it has standardized on Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) products and technology for all of its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) and next-generation wireless LAN (WLAN) deployments.

VocalTec Launches Essentra Class-5 BAX for Mobile and Fixed Networks
With a surge in the uptake of mobile broadband services fueled by the increasing availability of 3G and 3.5G handsets, mobile service providers are being forced to upgrade their networks to accommodate increases in traffic and usage.

Obama's Resistance to Regulation (So Far) Is Helping Tech Industry: Insider
David Snead, of W. David Snead, P.C. told TMC President Rich Tehrani in an interview, printed in full below, that Obama's appointments – along with his tendency, so far, to resist regulation – is helping the technology markets.

BT Proposes Alternatives to Job Cuts
BT Group PLC has decided to take a different approach. CNBC.com reported that the telecoms company is offering staff a year off from work in return from a 75 percent cut in that year's pay.

Finding Your Way through the Forest of Small Business Phone Systems
Of course, as a small business owner you have your own version of that expedition. Only this time, instead of trying to make your way physically through unending forests, you're wending your way through the deep, dark woods of purchasing a business phone system.

Cheaper Tariff for Vodafone UK Consumers Using Internet Overseas
Vodafone UK customers are now able to get even better value when using the Internet overseas for calls, according to the compay.

Cypress Wins 14th Product Innovation Award for Hosted Unified Communications Solution
Technology Marketing Corporation announced that it has named Cypress Communications as the as the recipient of this year's Product of the Year award for its C4 IP, a 2008 Communications solution from Cypress communications. This mark Cypress' 14th Award for its celebrated hosted unified communication solution, which helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access, exchange information, work together and continuously improve productivity irrespective of business exigencies. The C4 IP solution has been honored with this prestigious award from TMC on account of its long term commitment to innovation and its consistent leadership position in the segment providing state-of-the-art capabilities to the communications industry.

Satcom Direct Improves Onboard Flight Communication with Inmarsat-4, Datalink
Satcom Direct, a provider of satellite voice, fax, and Internet data service solutions, announced that it has successfully sent and received satcom datalink (AFIS/ACARS) messages over the Inmarsat-4 satellite constellation – technological advancement that's expected to improve communications between onboard flight and ground stations.

Raketu Intros Mobile Video Calling
New York-based Internet communications, information and entertainment company Raketu Inc. has introduced Raketu Mobile Video Calling designed to allow mobile users on WiFi or data services to make video calls free of cost. The service also offers free voice to voice calls, mobile to mobile or mobile to desktop calls, over WiFi or data.

Eastex Upgrades Network with Nortel Carrier VoIP Gear
Eastex Telephone Coop., Inc. a rural Texas carriers, announced it is upgrading its network with Carrier VoIP Services from Nortel. The VoIP infrastructure will allow Eastex to offer carrier-grade voice and multimedia services to more than 34,000 residential and business subscribers across rural East Texas, the company said.

ManageEngine Unveils VQManager 6.2
The VQManager is a Web-based, 24x7 real-time QoS monitoring tool for VoIP networks. It monitors any VoIP equipment that supports SIP, H.323, Cisco SCCP (Skinny) and RTP/RTCP. VQManager helps in troubleshooting VoIP calls for failures and quality deterioration. It provides features such as Live VoIP QoS Monitoring with MOS scores, Alarms & Notifications, Call QoS detail views.

Alcatel-Lucent IP/MPLS Router Earns Award
With the ability to reliably groom and aggregate multiple media, service and transport protocols onto an economical packet transport infrastructure, the Alcatel-Lucent 7705 Service Aggregation Router delivers industry-leading IP/MPLS and pseudowire capabilities in compact platforms. The Alcatel-Lucent 7705 SAR is suited to the transport needs of the evolving mobile radio access network.

Nortel 40G Optical Solution Helps Lightower Provide 40G Bandwidth Service
The Nortel solution allows the 10G network of a company to provide four times the capacity today – and 10 times the capacity in the near future, claims Nortel. The digital signal processing techniques of the solution make 40Gbps and 100Gbps transmission over existing infrastructures possible. Also, there is no need for complex network re-engineering add-on equipment required by alternative solutions, according to Nortel.

Digi Unveils ZigBee Smart Energy Certified ESP Gateway
ZigBee provides the core technology for monitoring, controlling, and automating the delivery and use of energy and water. According to the company, its Smart Energy products help o improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. ZigBee Smart Energy was also selected as a device communication standard for home area networks (HANs) selected by the U.S. Department of Energy in their initial standards framework for Smart Grid development.

Apparent Networks Research Discovers Reasons for Delay in Application Deployments
According to the survey, more than one-third of network managers have delayed application deployments because of network performance concerns. Nearly 61 percent said that they had delayed a VoIP implementation due to network performance concerns. While 26 percent put a unified communications project on hold, some 35 percent postponed a video rollout for the above mentioned reasons.

AT&T, TDC Team-Up to Bring Enhanced Global Connectivity to Nordic Businesses
AT&T has signed an agreement with TDC to jointly develop and deploy global service bundles and networking solutions for multinational companies located in the Nordic region. With this, it is expected that there will be more global connectivity to Nordic Business and in turn will also improve AT&T's local reach in a technologically advanced region.

KDS Launches Totally Comprehensive Travel & Expense Management System
KDS, a European provider of integrated travel & expense (T&E) management systems has announced that it has expanded the functionality of its KDS Corporate online solution. Companies looking to save money with their T&E budgets can now do so with KDS' system to virtually manage all travel bookings and have all travel expenses captured for reconciliation.

Tasty Baking Taps Evolve IP's Services for Headquarter Move
Tasty Baking Company selected Evolve IP for outsourcing the hosting and management of its voice and data networks when it moved to a new corporate headquarters. Evolve IP ensured that Tasty Baking's communication did not get disrupted at any time during the move. Evolve IP enables organizations to simplify their legacy infrastructure, improve network security and reliability and increase employee productivity through feature-rich service offerings.

APconnections' Multi-core Technology Ramps Speed to Two Gbps
APconnections reportedly announced that its multi-core technology will soon be able to power its flagship product, NetEqualizer, to deliver digital transfer rates of up to two Gigabits per second (Gbps).

Truphone Expands Portfolio with 11 More Nokia Devices
Truphone, a low cost international rates voice provider, has added 11 Nokia handsets to the list of devices that are compatible with its VoIP mobile application, which permits consumers to place low-cost international calls.

References-Online Tapped by DoubleHorn for 'Unbiased' Interviews
Austin, Texas-based DoubleHorn Communications CEO Tab Schadt says his company's search for a firm to conduct "unbiased interviews of its customers," settled on References-Online.

BelAir Leads Mesh WiFi Market: Report
These results show that BelAir Networks has emerged as a vendor of choice for service providers, businesses and government customers requiring large-scale or multi-site WiFi coverage.

Mobile VoIP without WiFi or 3G
Nimbuzz is using Voxbone's telephone numbers and origination services in order to allow users to make VoIP calls when handsets can't find a 3G or WiFi network. This is done by automatically dialing the Voxbone access number over a 2/2.5G connection.

Zayo to Provide Fiber-Based Bandwidth Services in Ohio
Officials at the company say they'll light more than 60 miles of metro fiber, providing access to key locations in the greater Youngstown area, including mobile switching centers, central offices and data centers.

JAJAH Connects One Billion Calls Since its Platform Launch
JAJAH, a global communications company, said that it has connected 1 billion calls since it launched its platform. The company began as a Web-activated-telephony service. Company officials said that today the company has evolved to become a prominent communications platform, partnering with telecommunications and technology companies such as Intel, Microsoft and Yahoo!

Horizon-Keystone Financial Renews Agreement with Samsung BCS
Samsung Business Communication Systems (BCS), the distribution arm of Samsung's line of business communications solutions, and Horizon-Keystone Financial, provider of financial solutions to telecom, furniture, and office products industries, announced that the companies are renewing their ongoing financing agreements to provide flexible telephone system financing options to Samsung BCS dealers and small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). The agreement provides a flexible financing framework that allows Horizon executives to work with dealers and end-users to create a financial solution tailored to meet their unique financial needs, officials said.

Cabot Inks 3-Year Global WAN Deal with Orange
"We rely on Orange Business Services to support our global network, which carries our ERP system. They have a proven track record of being a trusted, reliable and experienced partner," said Doug Church, vice president and chief information officer at Cabot Corporation, in a statement.

Supplier Q&A on IP Contact Center Solutions with ShoreTel
This month's Supplier Survey is focusing on IP contact center solutions. Replying for ShoreTel are Bernard Gutnick, senior director of product marketing, and Venky Ramen, senior product manager of Interaction Center:

TCS Wins 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award
TCS provides wireless text messaging and location-based technology, including E911 services and commercial applications like navigation that use the precise location of a wireless device, and secure satellite-based communications systems and services. Company's customer list includes wireless and VoIP carriers around the world, cable MSOs, automotive telematics vendors, and agencies of the U.S. Departments of Defense, State, and Homeland Security.

Teliris, Iformata to Offer Visual Collaboration Interoperability
Teliris, a global provider of agile telepresence and collaboration and Iformata Communications, a telepresence managed services and video network operations providers, reportedly have signed a strategic partnership to offer comprehensive visual collaboration interoperability.

US Tier-1 MSO Selects Axerra's AXN Products
Axerra Networks officials said that their solution would help the MSO offer its mobile network operator customers both legacy T1 and next-generation mobile backhaul services over its existing nation-wide packet network.

Iformata Intros New Video Network Operations Center Platform
Iformata Communications reportedly introduced its latest Video Network Operations Center (VNOC) application, the "VNOC Symphony" platform, for enterprise level video communication management.

Toshiba VoIP Telephone System Offers Remedy for Cardiologists Group
A Gainesville, Fla.-based cardiologists group was searching for the right "prescription" for its office to handle its call load while providing top patient service. And officials with Toshiba America Information Systems Inc.'s Telecommunication Systems Division came up with the perfect remedy: Toshiba Strata CIX IP business telephone system.

Think You're Hiring in an Employer's Market? Be Prepared to Invest
How do businesses and the workforce adjust? They invest in people, in training and development. For the unemployed, this may mean going back to school to gain additional degrees, certifications, or an entirely new set of skills, or finding on-the-job training. For employers, this should mean a significant, strategic investment in human capital.

Alcatel-Lucent's IP Broadband Access Solutions Selected by KDN
Kenya Data Networks (KDN), one of the largest data communications carriers in Africa, will soon extend and upgrade its IP/MPLS network from Alcatel-Lucent. According to Alcatel-Lucent, the IP/MPLS network from KDN is based on Alcatel-Lucent Triple Play Service Delivery Architecture (TPSDA).

Microsoft Stops RIM/iPhone Reimbursements
I just learned that Microsoft will stop reimbursing employees for use of non-Windows Mobile devices. I had heard at a dinner with Microsoft employees at ITEXPO last winter in Miami that use of an iPhone at the company is an RGE or resume generating event. So I was surprised that there are iPhone and Blackberry users at the company.

RADCOM's Omni-Q Solution Selected by 'Leading Asian Service Provider'
RADCOM has announced that its Omni-Q solution has been selected by a leading Asian provider of international voice and satellite services. The Asian service provider will use Omni-Q for monitoring its voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) network.

ooma Honored with NGN Leadership Award from NGN Magazine
ooma, Inc., a provider of consumer electronics device enabling free, U.S. telephone calling and advanced telephony services, recently received the first annual NGN Leadership Award from NGN Magazine, a publication of Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC). The company was honored for its outstanding innovation - ooma Hub and Scout.

Salesforce.com Launches Force.com Sites
The availability of force.com sites will allow the clients to deploy their newly built Web applications to up to 100 users. Other features such as access to one Web site with up to 250,000 page views per month, 10 custom objects/custom database tables per user, a sandbox development environment, free online training, and a library of sample applications are also available.

Is Wireless the Only Feasible Rural Broadband Solution?
For isolated locations, satellite or fixed wireless might be the only feasible method. For many other locations, such as homes located more than 2.5 miles away from a remote terminal, but less than 10 miles distant, terrestrial wireless is likely to make financial sense, though wired facilities are possible if a provider has the stomach for investing $4,000 a home.

Broadstripe Adds Aurora Networks' GEPON Solution to its Commercial Services
Broadstripe, LLC a provider of integrated video, broadband and home phone services has deployed Aurora Networks' GEPON solution for its commercial services offering. Aurora Networks is an optical transport solution provider which delivers an optimized platform for next-generation cable services.

IBM and Avaya Extend Partnership
IBM and VoIP equipment provider Avaya have reportedly extended their partnership to provide unified communications applications backed by Avaya-certified security products for enterprise clients and government organizations. As part of the partnership agreement, the companies will incorporate Avaya Aura into existing IBM converged communications services.

Whaleback Systems, Intervale Technologies Team to Deliver VoIP Services to New England Businesses
Whaleback Systems has announced that Massachusetts based Intervale Technologies, IT and telecom services provider, has joined the Whaleback Systems Premier Partner Program.

Competing and Winning on the SMB Playing Field
Playing basketball at both the collegiate (Go Penn State!) and professional level taught me a number of invaluable lessons that I've carried with me into my professional career. Charging onto the basketball court, fueled with adrenaline, passion for the game and conviction that we were the best, my teammates and I were given exactly the same opportunity to contribute to the game— and ultimately the win.

OneSuite's SuiteAdvantage Allows Broadcasting of Audio Messages to Multiple Recipients
OneSuite has announced a new feature for its VoIP service, SuiteAdvantage, which allows users to broadcast their messages to multiple recipients without having to make several calls.

ACS Intros Smartphone Management Solution in Europe
"The future of work is mobile, distributed and dynamic," one researcher said. "But the practicalities of delivering on that vision aren't trivial."

Ziggo Selects Nortel for SMB Business Voice Services in Netherlands
Under the pact, Nortel will help Ziggo expand into the SMB market with a pre-tested, end-to-end solution.

ACS Intros Smartphone Management Solution for European Customers
Mobile device management has become the top pain points of European enterprises, says Camille Mendler, research vice president at Yankee Group. "The future of work is mobile, distributed and dynamic," Mendler said. "But the practicalities of delivering on that vision aren't trivial."

Speakeasy Offering Free Starbucks Coffee to Get Businesses to Switch to VoIP
Speakeasy, a Best Buy company offering Internet phone service, has launched a new promotion where it is offering a Starbuck's gift card to business customers who fax in their phone bill to determine how much they can save by switching to VoIP.

SMB UC Finally?
In a 2008 TMC article, I suggested that the SMB market opportunity for VoIP was poised to finally take-off. I suggested that there had been three major impasses holding up broad SMB adoption

Axway Solution Helps P&G to Improve Supply Chain Efficiencies and Cost Management
Procter & Gamble (P&G) has selected Axway's business-to-business (B2B) solution for their external managed file transfers (MFT). According to Axway, this partnership will allow P&G to improve its trading partner relationships.

Toshiba Intros New DECT Phone for its Strata CIX VoIP Systems
Toshiba America Information Systems Inc (TAIS) has reportedly unveiled its new DKT2404-DECT -- a next-generation digital DECT cordless telephone for the Toshiba Strata CIX family of VoIP business communication systems.

Smartphones Turn into Modern Day Necessity
It's probably no surprise that smartphones are growing in popularity. As desktop devices are quickly losing steam for Web surfers in favor of the portable products, consumers are no longer labeling smartphones as nice-to-have devices. In fact, demand is so big, that the high-tech gadgets are becoming more of a necessity. A recent report from research firm Gartner found that smartphone sales surpassed 36.4 million units during the first quarter. That represents a 12.7 percent increase from the same period last year, Gartner said.

Research Firms State Nortel Leads Global Carrier Softswitch Market
Nortel is the worldwide leader with the largest revenues in the carrier softswitch market for the first quarter of 2009, according to reports published by Dell'Oro Group and Infonetics Research.

Former AT&T Chief Ed Whitacre Jr. to Head GM
Ed Whitacre Jr. is a masterful businessman and did a fantastic job working to get federal regulators to repeal telecom deregulation while at the same time reassembling an AT&T monopoly which to be fair now competes with Verizon and a slew of cable companies.

TalkSwitch Announces a Multi-Partner VoIP Program
In an effort to make VoIP service more attractive to small businesses, TalkSwitch has introduced a multi-partner VoIP program. According to the company, this program enhances the benefits available to the customers from the TalkSwitch IP PBX systems.

ooma Hub and Scout Wins TMC Labs Innovation Award
ooma has announced that Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) has named its Hub and Scout as 2009 TMC Labs Innovation Award winner, presented by its publication, Unified Communications.

Natural Convergence Acquires NewStep Networks to Boost Growth
Reputed provider of hosted VoIP solutions specifically tailor-made for the booming small business market, Natural Convergence (NCI), recently announced its acquisition of New Step Networks, a multi award winning supplier of uncomplicated session management solutions which operates on its innovation CSM Platform. The latest acquisition is in line with the group's initiatives to drive its popular product, Silhouette, which is one of the most thorough hosted VoIP solutions in the market currently.

Talking with 8x8's Debbie Jo Severin
This month's article, "The effective Marketing of VoIP Services," mentions 8x8, provider of the 8x8 Virtual Office and Packet8 broadband business, residential, video and mobile communications services.

FREE WEBINAR: Benefits of VoIP and IP Telephony
Learn how to break the barriers of communications through innovative and robust VoIP solutions with a free Webinar hosted by TMC and Dialexia Communications.

Aptela and ClearSight Resolve Network Issues Faster and More Cost Effectively
Aptela makes use of the Internet to steer customers' voice and data traffic. Since SMBs usually have a limited ability to expand IT resources and budgets, using the Internet allows Aptela to provide the advantages of a dynamic and strong VoIP network at a rational price point.

Broadcom's Green Gigabit Ethernet Switches Help SMBs Save Power and Money
Broadcom Corporation has started shipping its 65 nanometer (nm) single-chip Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch solutions – which lowers total system power by approximately 40 percent in volume production – to customers such as Allied Telesis, Cisco, D-Link and NETGEAR, according to the company.

ATCOM Business Telecom Solutions Inks Deal With CV Products
ATCOM has provided CV Products enhancements including deployment of new voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) with a Mitel 3300 Unified Messaging platform in locations at Thomasville and Mooresville, N.C.

Broken Arrow Wear Deploys Avaya IP Office to Improve Employee Communications
Broken Arrow Wear, a custom T-shirt company and online retailer announced the successful deployment of Avaya small business communications solution for improving employee communications, customer service and sales capabilities. The deployment will enable employees to serve customers better during the peak seasons.

Cisco Renews Small Business with New Solutions
In a move to better offer small businesses and partners networking and collaboration solutions, Cisco today announced a fleet of new products and services designed to improve productivity and help users boost their competition.

Free Webinar: How SMBs Can Grow Revenue with Cloud Telephony
Ifbyphone's Cloud Telephony program offers carriers an easy, scalable, and reliable way to provide more features to existing customers, without needing to make big and risky upfront investments. Because the solutions are hosted in the cloud, companies can be free to expand their services when needed, maintain control, and grow revenue at their own pace.

Innovation Award for Cypress' Unified Communications from Frost & Sullivan
In recognition of the company's efforts to focus more on innovation, Cypress Communications has received the prestigious North American Hosted IP Telephony Market Product Differentiation Innovation Award for 2009 from global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan.

Small Biz Still Investing in Communications, Survey Finds
According to a new survey on small business technology trends from Avaya, 59 percent of the small businesses in North America claim to be "investing in communications technology right now," or plan to do so within the year.

AT&T Targets Small Biz with Monthly Offering
Calling it a "demonstration of its ongoing commitment to providing affordable products for small businesses in a tough economy," AT&T has announced a bundled offer targeted at small businesses that includes wireless, wired and high speed Internet services, starting at less than $100 a month.

XO Communications Intros Carrier Wavelength FLEX Program
XO Communications, a provider Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Data and Internet, Network Transport, Managed Services, Hosting Services and Fixed Wireless Access to businesses, enterprises, government, and carrier and wholesale customers nationwide, has announced the availability of a new Carrier Wavelength FLEX program for all its current and prospective customers using XO Wavelength.

Crop of New Small Businesses Means More Subscribers to 8x8's Virtual Office Hosted VoIP Service
Hosted VoIP provider 8x8 reports that, despite the downturn in the economy, it added a record number of new subscribers to its Virtual Office hosted VoIP phone service in the first quarter of 2009 -- approximately 15 percent more than the previous quarter.

SQmediator Monitoring VoIP Performance Management
When streaming video on your laptop or calling a distant relative through Skype, there can sometimes be a few hiccups such as a dropped call or slow connectivity. Telchemy, with their SQmediator, an innovative Voice over IP (VoIP) mediation application that collects, correlates, analyzes, and displays call quality reports received from a wide range of VoIP endpoints, is there to help improve the VoIP service.

Interview: More SMBs, Larger Enterprises Turn to Broadband Bonding in Down Economy
According to Dr. Cahit Akin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Mushroom Networks – a San Diego-based provider of broadband bonding solutions for Internet connection applications – more and more companies are turning to the technology for better performance as well as cost-savings.

Tata Teleservices Limited Deploys Wavion Base Stations
Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML), a telecom service provider in India, and Wavion, has announced the completion of a large scale deployment of Wavion WBS-2400 Base Stations in the district of Navi-Mumbai, India.

IP5280 Launches Video Learning Center for Hosted VoIP Services
IP5280 Communications, specializing in business VoIP and data communications through unified Internet Protocol technologies, has announced the launch of a Video Learning Center (VLC) for Hosted VoIP Services.

MediaTek Launches IEEE 802.16e WiMAX Chips
MediaTek, a fabless semiconductor company for wireless communications and digital multimedia solutions, has announced the launch of three second generation IEEE 802.16e WiMAX chips.

xG Technology Signs Binding Agreement with Townes Tele-Communications
xG Technology, Inc., developer of a low-cost, mobile VoIP and data communications system, has signed a binding agreement with Townes Tele-Communications, Inc, a prominent U.S. Independent Local Exchange Carrier.

Rural Broadband To Be FCC Priority, Acting Chair Says
What with everything else going on these days, the government has concluded that "all rural Americans must have the opportunity to reap the full benefits of broadband services," according to Federal Communications Commission officials.

Newfound Communications Receives a TMC 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award
The Newfound IP Call Recorder has been recognized as an outstanding innovation from Newfound Communications by Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC). The company announced today that their innovative IP Call Recorder version 1.5 is a recipient of a 2008 Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award.

Alcatel-Lucent Completes IP/MPLS Network Deployment for OBS
This national deployment was implemented in 2008 and subsequently during the first quarter of 2009 which is said to expand Orange Business Services' portfolio of premium business services offered across France.

Unify Square Intros Training Program for Microsoft OCS Voice Technology
The first training course, Microsoft Unified Communications Voice Ignite, is scheduled to begin from June 15, 2009 in Bellevue, Wash. This course will feature a detailed overview of PBX Interoperability and Microsoft OCS 2007 Release 2. Additional courses are also scheduled throughout the year at various U.S. and international locations.

Media5 Intros Media5Boss-Mobility
The Media5Boss (Branch Office Secure Survivable) is an advanced all-in-one suite of solutions which is designed for security and survivability in multi-site, branch office environments. It combines the technologies of the MC Client, available on a wide range of dual mode handsets, the Comdasys FMC Controller, and the Mediatrix T1/E1 or FXS gateways.

VYL Media Acquires GetFyre VoIP Customers
Based in Canada, GetFyre Communications, Inc. has been offering residential and Small Office-Home Office services to customers throughout North America. It also offers a full suite of business and residential products that include VoIP for the home, office and DSL Internet access.

Magnet Networks Selects OneAccess Networks
The partnership is announced as Magnet launches a new business ADSL2+ and SDSL product range offering enterprise level services at an SME price. These include speeds upgraded to 12Mbps and 24Mbps, a fixed IP address, managed connectivity and pro-active customer service.

D-Link No. 1 in Ethernet Small Enterprise, Unmanaged Switch Port Shipments
D-Link has announced that two separate reports released in the last week of March – one by Gartner, titled "Market Share: Enterprise Ethernet Switches, Worldwide, 2008," and the other by In-Stat, titled "4Q08 Ethernet Switch Market Analysis" – which show that in 2008 the company held number one position in worldwide Ethernet small enterprise and unmanaged switch port shipments.

KDDI America Expands Its U.S. Ethernet Network
KDDI America has installed its own Ethernet network hub facilities in data centers in Chicago, IL, Ashburn, VA and Dallas, TX. The company states that this installation signifies the next step in the ongoing expansion of the KDDI US Powered Ethernet network

Samsung and Voxitas Partner to Deliver Converged Telecommunications Platform
A joint marketing agreement has been announced between Samsung Business Communication Systems (BCS) and Voxitas. This agreement will combine the Samsung OfficeServ 7000 Series of converged telecommunications platforms with Voxitas SIP trunking services.

VoIP's Codima Announces Strong Growth in Q1
Announcing this, the company officials said that while responding to the increasing demand in the network management market, the company has expanded its global reach in Q1 to encompass local operations in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Canada and Denmark.

Orange Selects Alcatel-Lucent for IP/MPLS Solution
Companies such as Orange Business Services are targeting the premium sectors as the business for the regular services dip in profit due to the worsening economy. Companies and individuals are still willing to spend on premium services such as Ethernet, IP virtual private networks and advanced VoIP services, and it makes sense for the service providers to cater to their demands.

Mitel Enhances Mobility with Dynamic Extension
Mobile staff can make and receive calls from anywhere on any of eight defined devices, as if they are in the office, maintaining their corporate identity (single number reach) and being always accessible to customers and colleagues (business continuity and first call resolution).

WebEx Proves Cost Effective For SMB's
Cisco has announced the release of the first phase of a market research report unofficially titled, 'SMB Working Practices – Phase 1,' that was conducted on its behalf by Sweeney Research in Australia to perform a structured, compartmentalized in-depth analysis of the workflow methodology of Small and Medium Businesses (SMB's).

Entech Computer Services Joins Whaleback Systems' Premier Partner Program
Entech Computer Services, one of Florida's IT and telecom services companies, has joined the Whaleback Systems Premier Partner Program - a comprehensive technology and channel sales program for interconnect valued added resellers (VARs), network integrators and IT services companies.

8x8, Aastra Launch Co-Branded IP Business Phones
The virtual office just got another boost in the IP business phone space, thanks to a new collaboration between 8x8, Inc. and Aastra. 8×8, Inc., the Santa Clara, California-based provider of Virtual Office and Packet8 broadband business, residential, video and mobile communications services, has partnered with Aastra, a global provider of communications products, to offer co-branded Virtual Office business IP phones bundled with the 8×8 Virtual Office suite. Under the partnership, Aastra will supply the co-branded 8x8/Aastra 6755i Virtual Office IP phone, while 8x8 manages the 8x8 Virtual Office hosted IP PBX service, the companies announced.

Yuuguu's Platform Now Supports Skype
Yuuguu's instant real time collaboration platform now supports Skype.

WhiteFence Adds Lingo to its Line-up of Home Service Providers
WhiteFence, an online comparison-shopping marketplace for residential home services, has announced the addition of nationwide digital telephone company, Lingo, to its line up of over 400 home services providers.

Portuguese Cable Operator ZON TVCabo Selects Jungo's Broadband Software Solutions
ZON TVCabo, a subsidiary of ZON Multimedia and Portugal's triple-play cable operator, has selected a suite of Jungo's broadband software solutions to support the operator's residential and business customers.

NTT Com Earns Cisco Powered TelePresence Network Connection Status for Arcstar Global IP-VPN Service
Cisco's TelePresence Connection Certification is a certification program designed for TelePresence services that provides businesses with an added level of confidence that service providers have invested, in order to gain the capabilities which is required for an optimal TelePresence experience.

Verizon Delivers Advanced IP Capabilities to Mid Market Customers
Traditionally, smaller businesses have not been able to derive the benefits of IP evolutions as much as their bigger counterparts, but with the custom made service packages from Verizon Business this trend is set to change. With the ever changing face of global businesses thanks to the dynamic IP technology environment, this offering comes as a godsend to many of the smaller and mid market businesses.

i/o Data Centers Selects Qwest as Internet Carrier Provider
i/o Data Centers, a provider of data center solutions, has selected Qwest Communications International Inc. as one of its Internet carrier providers for its new "Phoenix ONE" data center - a 530,000 square foot facility located on a 31-acre campus in central Phoenix. I/o Data Centers designs, builds and operates next-generation data centers for some of the world's largest corporations and Web properties.

ManageEngine Intros Site24x7 Website User Experience Monitoring Management Application
ManageEngine announced further enhancements to its ManageEngine On Demand offering Site24x7 which is designed to maintain an optimal Website user experience by monitoring the performance and availability of Web servers and applications.

D2: We See 40 Billion Minutes of VoIP Traffic Each Month
D2 Technologies, an embedded IP communications software solutions provider, recently announced that its VoIP technology is processing more than 40 billion minutes of traffic per month. It attributed this record volume to an increasing number of new products embedding its vPort VoIP solution. System on a Chip vendors and hardware and mobile device users embedding its solution into new products have been customers for this product.

IBM Targets SMBs with New Software
The appliance, the "Smart Cube," is in fact designed to capitalize on the growing need for technology in the small and medium business sector. Moreover, the launch came at a time when the U.S. stimulus bill is set to offer financial support and subsidy for smaller enterprises investing in technology.

Ecessa Launches WAN Link Controllers for SMBs
Mid-tier enterprises are expected to benefit from aggregation or multi-homing, automated inbound and intelligent outbound load balancing, site failover and failback features of the link controllers. The new solutions offer WAN link redundancy and traffic shaping for optimal network reliability.

8x8 Reports Record Quarter of Organic Business Customer Additions
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service provider 8x8 Inc. continued its recent upswing, announcing five percent revenue growth and a nearly 40 percent increase in business service growth from the previous fiscal year.

Why Quality of Service Doesn't Cut it
How many times have you phoned a company or colleague only to find that you cannot properly hear the person on the other end of the line? How many times have you tried to have a video conference only to find that the picture quality is so bad that you revert to an audio only call?

Is Your Business Ready for the Recovery?
While most businesses are whining about the recession, a few are preparing for the recovery. They know that now while business is slack, is the ideal time to tune up their operation. Don't waste this opportunity. If you want to be ready for the recovery, the time has come to simplify, streamline and optimize your organization in preparation for the future.

SAP, RIM Launch Improved Mobile CRM Access
The new BlackBerry Sales Client for SAP CRM is now available from RIM. It's billed as giving sales reps the same kind of access to customer information in SAP CRM "they have come to expect from BlackBerry smartphones."

360networks Expands Further in South Dakota
Seattle telecommunications company 360networks has announced that it is expanding coverage in the state of South Dakota and has set up 35 new rate centers to meet the increasing demand for the service. More rate centers now means that the residents of South Dakota, whether they are in metropolitan area or in the countryside, can make Internet calls at the cheapest possible price.

Nortel Unveils Virtual Services Platform 9000
Officials at Nortel Networks Corp. describe their so-called "Virtual Services Platform 9000" as a next-generation enterprise solution for mission-critical core networks and data centers.

SBO's Accolades For Verizon
Verizon has announced at the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) annual National Small Business Week 2009 conference that Small Business Owner's (SBO's) across the nation have acknowledged a significant part of their success is due to Verizon's suite of varied communications solutions

Critical Links Expands into EMEA
Thanks to this expansion, Critical Links' edgeBOX portfolio will be made more widely available to small & medium enterprise customers across new EMEA territories who are looking for a multi-service platform to help simplify, standardize and ultimately reduce the cost of operating and managing an entire office's communications and networking infrastructure.

Verizon Adds 51-Foot Mobile Command Center to its Disaster-Recovery Fleet
Verizon Business announced the launch of its new 51-foot mobile command center which is equipped with sophisticated communications equipment. The rig also includes sufficient space for company employees, public officials and emergency responders who maybe be deployed during natural disasters or other emergency situations which disrupts Verizon's communications network in the U.S.

Ekahau Adds Wi-Fi Spectrum Analysis Tool to its Site Survey Solution
Ekahau Inc., provider Wi-Fi-based RTLS and site survey solutions, has announced that it will be adding Wi-Fi (802.11 WLAN) spectrum analysis capabilities to its Ekahau Site Survey solution.

Panasonic Posts $4 Billion Annual Loss, Outlook Grim
Officials at Japan's Panasonic Corp. say overall sales fell 19 percent compared to the prior 12 months, leading to the CE giant's first loss in seven years.

Siemens SEN to Acquire Nortel's Enterprise Client Unit?
Specifically, SEN's chief executive James O'Neill told a wire service that the company was interested in Nortel's enterprise client unit.

Quintron Selling More VoIP Products
Received in March, the first two expansion orders will provide a 33 percent increase in system capacity for the existing DICES IV system at the Global Operations Center at USSTRATCOM in Offutt AFB in Omaha, and a 50 percent expansion at an Air National Guard site in Idaho.

Verizon Intros Small Business SharePlan
This new plan starts at $69.99 per month for two lines and 700 minutes. Customers can add lines for as low as $9.99 per month and they can also access the My Business online account management tool, Small Business Specialists and online technical support around-the-clock.

Drive Profitable Relationships with Predictive Analytics
A new white paper written for senior executives, by SPSS and Peppers and Rogers Group, argues that using predictive analytics can drive organic growth. The white paper describes five ways to achieve organic growth and explains two different methods for measuring financial return.

BT Announces Job and Dividend Cuts
Of all the losses and cuts announced in the last quarter, the latest out of BT Group PLC may be the most troubling for the U.K. The telecommunications company showed a quarterly loss and announced that it plans to cut as many as 15,000 more jobs. The company also slashed dividends by 60 percent after write-downs at its troubled global services unit.

oDesk Launches oDesk Groups, Announces Yahoo!, Network Solutions Partnerships
oDesk offers a unique way through this with its system that enables service buyers to screen, hire, manage and collaborate (including viewing work), and paying for the time worked. It enables providers to apply for work; tracked time worked, and gets guaranteed payment without invoicing and collections hassles.

Good News for Wireless, Cable Companies: FCC Shortens Porting Timeframe to One Day
The FCC responded voted to require wireline, wireless and certain VoIP providers to transfer a customer's existing telephone number to a new provider within one business day.

Report: Americans Willing to Take Pay Cut to Work from Home
recent study on workplace trends by Citrix Online reveals that not only are Americans looking to gain the ability to work from home, but they are even willing to take a pay cut in order to be offered the opportunity.

Integra Telecom Selects UTOPIA Network
This announcement makes Integra the eighth service provider on the UTOPIA network.

Glimmerglass Unveils Intelligent Peripheral System 3000
The IPS 3000 comes along with dual power supplies, dual control modules, dual communications paths and hot-swappable modules and supports a range of redundancy features. For applications requiring amplification of large numbers of optical fibers, the IPS supports 12 dual optical amplifier modules for a total of 24 amplifiers in 6RU of rack space.

Cisco Unveils Unified Service Delivery for Service Providers
Unified Service Delivery helps service providers offer video, data and video services from the data center, helping them to build a foundation of cloud services. Cisco Unified Service Delivery makes use of the products such as the Cisco Unified Computing System and the Cisco Nexus Switch to offer its services. It also uses a new data-center optimized configuration of Cisco's flagship router, the Cisco CRS-1 Carrier Routing System, and Cisco's wide range of IP NGN products.

Mirror Image Internet, Wowza Boost IMPM Server
"Wowza gives us the ability to support our customers' streaming needs in a number of ways, regardless of budget, bandwidth, protocol, or future content plans," said James G. Hart, vice president of sales and marketing for Mirror Image.

MegaPath Announces New Online Resource to Help SMBs Cut Costs
MegaPath, a provider of managed IP communications services in North America, recently launched a new Web page on its Web site called "Connected Small & Medium Business" dedicated to small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), in order to encourage small business to follow good cost cutting practices and implement innovative services.

Enabling Technologies Corp. and The Glenture Group Enter into Partnership
Enabling Technologies Corporation, a Microsoft Unified Communications Voice Specialized Partner, and the Glenture Group, a Microsoft SharePoint and Business Intelligence Partner, have entered into a synergistic partnership to extend the reach and adoption of Microsoft Unified Communications.

Downside of Wireless, VoIP, Cable Co. Success: Pain for Traditional Phone SPs
Phone companies mainly are losing subscribers to cable companies that bundle phone, cable and broadband Internet services in "triple play" packages.

InteleCom's Launches Mobile VoIP-Like 'CoIP' Product
The company recently announced that it has obtained the rights to sell the "1World 1Phone" mobile phone. The phone is 3G, Quad Band compatible and has dual SIM cards and it functions like two phones with an unlocked GSM. It also features a removable back so that the batteries can be changed for longer usage when charging facilities are not available.

GL Unveils Dual UTA, Features VoIP Adaptation
The Dual UTA works with all Bluetooth phones for both call control and send/record audio functions. It can also detect dial tone, go off hook, perform CallerID, send digits (two stage dialing), answer calls and detect a variety of Special Information Tones.

Report: Telecom Carriers to Spend More on Outsourced Services
One of the major reasons of this outsourcing is, predictably, cost-cutting. So, service providers end up outsourcing revenue-generating tasks such as network maintenance, application service delivery, network build, and network planning and design. According to the report, major service providers such as Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, HP, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, NEC, Nokia Siemens, and Nortel are already outsourcing their works.

Pronexus Releases VBVoice 5.6.1
VBVoice 5.6.1 includes several major features and enhancements that significantly reduce the cost and complexity of voice (IVR) application development and increase stability for high density SIP, VoIP and HMP applications.

Report: Mobile APRU Nosedive Shored by Mobile Data
Some good news came through when stats revealed that ARPU did not drop significantly in North America because mobile data's decline stopped and even reversed its slide somewhat. The mobile data component of ARPU contributed 38 percent of overall Japanese mobile ARPU, and between 25 and 30 percent for different European service providers.

Vonage Leverages Mother's Day Sentiments to Promote Products
According to a report from Vonage based on an impromptu survey conducted on the streets of New York, most people when asked this leading question, "How are you going to tell your Mother you love her on Mother's Day this year?" responded with, not surprisingly, "I am going to call her up."

Report: 1.9 Billion E-Mail Users by 2013
According to Radicati, there will be a surge in the number of worldwide e-mail users, which is expected to increase from more than 1.4 billion in 2009 to nearly 1.9 billion by 2013. In 2009, 74 percent of all e-mail accounts will belong to consumers, and 24 percent to corporate users.

Verizon Business Expands IT Consulting Services Portfolio
These new services are aimed at "addressing the need for global enterprises to optimize the performance of applications operating on their networks and to securely store the growing volume of corporate data."

IPITEK Intros Carrier Ethernet Services Platform with Circuit Emulation
IPITEK's Internet Media Transport division, which provides video-optimized intelligent broadband networks, reportedly introduced a new carrier Ethernet services platform, "MSP-CES," with a circuit emulation feature that enables seamless transition for cable operators from legacy interfaces to an Ethernet-based platform.

Cisco, Completel, UBIqube to Offer Next-Gen Security
By combining network and security devices from Cisco with UBIqube's Converged Services Delivery Platform, Completel is said to significantly expand its Managed Security Services offering for its corporate customer base, which would eventually allow them to address their security management requirements around Internet and remote access, with managed firewall, content filtering and IPSEC VPN services.

No VoIP for Microsoft Windows MarketPlace?
VoIP applications using a mobile provider's broadband network apparently will be forbidden from Microsoft's Windows MarketPlace for Mobile store, along with programs that are larger than 10 MBytes or which change the default browser on a device, according to some reports.

Accanto Optimizes VoIP, Mobile Data Services for Digicel
Both the TAMS and Mobile X-Ray platforms will allow Digicel to manage its growing GSM/GPRS, CDMA, VoIP and convergent core next-generation deployments. Digicel has decided to deploy the system initially in 15 nations and will then gradually expand to other regions.

Time Warner Extends Convergys' e-Care Contract
"Time Warner Cable connects people and businesses with information, entertainment, and each other. Throughout our long relationship, Convergys has successfully demonstrated its ability to help Time Warner Cable connect to its customers in a meaningful way, no matter how those customers get in touch, prompting this renewed and expanded agreement," said Jim Boyce, president of global business units at Convergys.

TalkSwitch, Covad Deliver Affordable VoIP QoS to Small Businesses
TalkSwitch has announced a communications solution using TalkSwitch and Covad Integrated Access (IA) combined phone and Internet service. The new solution brings quality, performance and even more affordability to small businesses.

Avtex Solutions Acquires DialPro Tennessee
Avtex Solutions has acquired DialPro Tennessee, Inc.

Global Semiconductor Sales Fall 16 Percent in Q1
Officials with the Semiconductor Industry Association said chip sales for the first quarter also dropped nearly 30 percent year-over-year, falling from $62.8 billion. Even so, the trade group said, a closer look at the numbers shows a reason for hope: Semiconductor sales picked up 3.3 percent month-to-month, hitting $14.7 billion for March.

VoiceInterop Intros Cost-Effective Way of Extending Reach of 2-Way Radios
VoiceInterop, a Florida-based provider of unified communications solutions, has unveiled a new bundled solution that helps in extending the reach of wide area two-way radio systems in a cost-effective way.

Vopium Launches Free Mobile VoIP Application on BlackBerry App World
Vopium, international mobile communications company announced the launch of its free application on BlackBerry App World. This is a mobile VoIP application which enables consumers and businesses to benefit from free and heavily-discounted communication services worldwide.

Alentus Partners with MyWorkplace Online
Alentus Corporation, a provider of Web hosting, sharepoint hosting, dedicated servers, and datacenter services has signed a new partnership with MyWorkplace Online, a managed voice service provider, in order to enable business customers with unified Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service.

Integra Launches Broadband Internet Product for SMBs
Integra Telecom Inc., a facilities-based, integrated communications provider that brings voice, data and Internet communications to thousands of business and carrier customers in 11 western states – has launched "Broadband Internet," a new product that delivers small and medium-sized businesses enterprise-level Internet access at rates that fit the SMB budgets.

Bharti Airtel, Alcatel-Lucent Forge Joint Venture
Bharti Airtel, Asia's integrated telecom service provider, and Alcatel-Lucent have formed a joint venture to manage the former's pan-India broadband and telephone services and help its transition to next-generation networks.

AT&T to Support Connect by Hertz
Moreover, these networks are expected to enable new applications that converge voice, data and video for AT&T business customers.

PamFax Partners with Voxbone
Voxbone, a VoIP carrier enabling centralized access to local phone numbers and toll-free numbers, has reportedly been chosen by Scendix Software GmbH to supply numbers, origination and conversion services for traditional PSTN fax for the PamFax for Skype solution.

M5 Networks Call Metrics and Salesforce.com Integration Help Increase Sales of 3 Points
M5 Networks announced that 3 Points, a technology provider for mid-sized businesses based in the Midwest, has increased sales "significantly" with M5 Networks business voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) using Call Metrics and Salesforce.com Integration.

Arris to Demo DOCSIS Products
ARRIS reportedly has announced that it's preparing to showcase its Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification, or "DOCSIS" broadband products – including voice and data services, Video On Demand, Addressable Advertising, and Access and Transport solutions – at an event in Germany.

Broadband Growth: Mixed Picture
Despite the world economic crisis, broadband numbers are actually growing a little faster than expected, say researchers at Point Topic.

F5 Solutions Overhauls WestJet's IT infrastructure
The IT Infrastructure, according to F5 Networks, delivers e-commerce and electronic check-in operations that the airliner needs to offer more services to guests.

Voxbone to Help with Fax App PamFax for Skype
Available for Windows and Mac OSX users, PamFax can be downloaded and installed by Skype users for free. This Skype "Extra" application allows users to send any printable PC document out as a fax and pay with Skype credit or a credit card. PamFax has now picked Voxbone to add inbound faxing as part of its launch of PamFax 2.0.

Unison Offers VoIP, E-Mail, IM to SMBs in New York City
Unison Technologies has announced the launch of its Unison Business Technology Assistance Program for New York City metropolitan area organizations, offering a free unified telephony, e-mail and instant messaging system to small and medium-sized businesses and organizations in the area.

voipGATE Unveils new CallBack Services for Websites
voipGATE, a Luxembourg based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) operator and provider for worldwide customers, has introduced its new CallBack Services for Websites, mobile phones and iPhones. With this, Website owners can now have the Callback features that were previously not available in various Websites.

IBM to Rebrand, Sell Brocade's VoIP-Enabling Enterprise Switches, Routers
Officials at IBM say they'll sell Brocade's IP networking products – which offer cost-effective deployment of VoIP wireless, and high-capacity data services, among other features – through their global sales force and authorized business partners.

McAfee Debuts New Line of UTM Firewalls for SMBs
The McAfee UTM Firewalls, formerly referred to as SnapGear, are multifunctional network security appliances that every small and medium sized business needs. They can be deployed as just a firewall, as a VPN gateway, a UTM security appliance, or as a complete office network-in-a-box Internet appliance for SMBs, with all of the wide area networking tools needed to serve large enterprise remote offices.

Microsoft Posts 32 Percent Income Decline for Q3
Officials at Microsoft Corp. also posted net income of $2.98 billion for the three-month period ended March 31 – a 32 percent year-over year decline – and earnings per share of 33 cents, a 30 percent drop.

XCast Labs Releases Newest Version of Digital Voice & Video Platform
The company has designed and developed every aspect of the core technology in-house which can be used for first-line replacement service for residential and small office customers, and also for the most feature-rich IP-private branch exchange (PBX) and session initiation protocol (SIP) trunking services for SMBs, said Rees.

Tone Software Enhances ReliaTel Solution with Streamline IP Voice Analytics Acquisition
Managed service providers (MSPs) who monitor Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) use for a network or networks can attest that sometimes ghost stories don't just exist in the imagination. In the office, the water-cooler becomes the fire and the MSPs become the campers all trying to run away from echoes, delays or worse—dropped calls.

Cypress Communications Acquires Parts of VoIP's Reignmaker
Reignmaker is a nine year-old Atlanta-based company with a history of providing VoIP services to small and medium-sized businesses across the United States. The company claims that it was an early pioneer in providing end-to-end VoIP communication services and boasted over 11,000 business VoIP installations since its inception.

Virtual PBX Honored with 2009 NGN Leadership Award
Paul Hammond, president and chief executive officer of Virtual PBX said that, being part of the first NGN Leadership Award is truly an honor and confirms their dedication to delivering enterprise-class solutions for the NGN market.

Primus Canada Creates New Call Center Jobs at Home
The company has outsourced some of its customer service operations to India, but now plans to hire more than 200 local people in its Edmundston, New Brunswick-based call center, to handle customer service and technical support calls. The company's Technical Support team has been transitioned back to Canada – a move that industries such as airlines are seeing more and more.

Radcom Intros Enhanced Mobile Broadband Service Assurance Solution
Radcom, which provides network test and service assurance solutions, announced the launch of a high-capacity R70-S probe platform for mobile broadband monitoring.

Report: xDSL Market Fueled by Triple Play Services
Frost & Sullivan attributes the popularity of xDSL technology to its ability to offer triple play services and compete against modern fiber and cable technologies.

Ericsson CEO: The Company Is Strong
"We are in the process of building the new IP networks and bringing together today's fixed and mobile networks," Svanberg said. "We're debt-free and by the end of the year we had net cash of SEK 35 billion ($4.19 billion). We have basically no customer financing and extensive cost reduction activities in place. We are market leaders and at the forefront of technological development. The world is experiencing turbulent times, but Ericsson is strong."